The One that Protects
by The Saint Of Killers
Summary: Xander dresses as Ichigo and acquires a zanpakuto. What would a sword made from his soul be like? How would it change the course of Buffy? Now being rewritten from a one shot to an expanded story
1. Death and the Zeppo

**Chapter 1 – Death and the Zeppo**

The two figures stared at the third, who was staring back in shock.

"What the hell?" said the tall titian haired teen dressed in a black long coat with a red inner lining. A black Japanese long sword with a manji-shaped hand guard was held casually in his gloved right hand. His right sleeve was torn off and revealed that the chain that ran from the pommel of his sword was wrapped up his right arm.

The teen next to him stared intently at the teen opposite them. This teen was dressed in a flowing white coat. His skin and hair lacked any color at all. His coat had a large black ruffle along the collar and half of a black helmet rested on his head. The helmet had a twisted horn on it that pointed forward. The most unnerving part of the young man was not his lack of color, but that his eyes were black with golden irises.

"Oh my god," breathed the third teen. "You're Ichigo," he said to the titian haired teen. This teen was as tall as Ichigo. He had short black haired parted haphazardly on one side. His eyes were the same shade of brown and Ichigo and the two teens shared the same slim yet strong build. They also shared the same clothes, though Xander's coat did not have a torn sleeve. He wasn't holding a sword, either.

"Who are you?" asked Ichigo sharply. "What are you doing in my inner world?"

"My name's Xander," he answered. "And what do you mean _your_ inner world? This is my body!"

"What do you mean this is your-"

"Ichigo," interrupted the unnamed teen. His voice had an odd echo sound to it. "Look around you."

"What are you talking about? This is-" Ichigo stopped in shock as the landscape they were in seemed to waver. Instead of being the reproduction of Ichigo's hometown at the bottom of a deep ocean it became a series of cracked towers built open a desert of wet sand. The towers were sinking into the desert. The tallest one, in the center of the landscape, was broken down and blasted apart until only the foundation remained.

"Your name is Alexander," said the odd teen. Xander slowly nodded. "Do you know my name?"

"It's Zangetsu, Tensa Zangetsu, if I had to guess from your appearance. Why do you look like a hollow?"

"You know about hollows?" asked Ichigo sharply. He seemed to do that a lot.

"The world I live in is not your world, Ichigo. In the world I live in, you are a fictional character. I dressed as you for Halloween."

"I'm not real?" asked Ichigo in disbelief.

"I, uh, I don't know."

"I look like a hollow because I combined with Ichigo's inner hollow. Or, rather, this is my true form. Ichigo's hollow and I are the same. We are his power."

"Oh, that makes sense. You look different though," said Xander curiously to Ichigo.

"I've been training for almost three months in the Precipice World," answered Ichigo automatically. He wasn't real?

"Oh yeah, you're trying to learn the Final Moon Fang Piercer of Heaven!" said Xander excitedly.

"He's already learned it," said Tensa Zangetsu sadly.

"Oh. The manga isn't that far along yet."

"There's a manga?" asked Ichigo in surprise.

"And an anime!"

"Who carries the manga?"

"Shonen Jump."

"That's awesome! I'm totally the main character!" said an oddly excited Ichigo. Well, oddly for Ichigo's normally stern personality if the wary look Tensa Zangetsu was giving him was anything to go by. Ichigo's face suddenly fell. "I'm the main character in a shonen manga!" he cried almost angrily.

"Uh, yeah?"

"That means I'm completely ignoring some babe I could totally score with!"

Both Xander and Tensa Zangetsu found themselves toppling over in absolute shock. Xander started laughing at the utter ridiculousness of Ichigo Kurosaki crying in despair like Keigo. Tensa Zangetsu quickly got up and slapped Ichigo in the back of the head.

"You fucking idiot! It took you getting pulled into _another reality_ before you realized that there were girls chasing you!"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head as he glared at Tensa Zangetsu. "What do you mean, girls?"

Xander laughed harder until a kick knocked the breath out of him. "And you are not helping!" yelled Tensa Zangetsu as he stood over Xander. Xander quickly recovered his breath.

"Sorry, sorry!" he said as he stood up. "It's just," Xander shook his head before he turned his head away for a moment, "it's just frustrating when he\ can get the girl so easily and I can't." It began raining. "Uh, what's going on?"

"You are hiding your emotions," said Tensa Zangetsu. "But this is your inner world. Everything you want to hide on the inside is expressed in here."

"Oh," said Xander shamefully.

"It rains in my inner world when I'm sad," murmured Ichigo, uncomfortable with the realization of the rain's meaning.

"Why are you sad, Alexander?" asked Tensa Zangetsu.

The world around them vanished momentarily as images of a blonde girl flashed all around them. Xander shook his head and the landscape returned. Even though the sun was now shinning the rain still continued to fall.

"Who was she?" asked Ichigo.

"That was Buffy," answered Xander as he looked at everything except the other two people standing in his mindscape.

"You love her," stated Tensa Zangetsu. Xander nodded. "She does not return your love," he added softly. Xander shook his head.

"I'm sorry," said Ichigo. Standing in the midst of Xander's inner world, the rain falling hard on them, Ichigo was acutely aware of how much Xander was hurting from his unrequited love.

"It's okay. You can't help who you fall in love with," said Xander. As he spoke the rain stopped and the sun shined warmly from a clear blue sky. Flowers began to sprout and bloom from the earth before it all vanished again. Ichigo and Tensa Zangetsu watched a beautiful blonde girl walk up the steps of a school. The perspective spun wildly for a moment before they found themselves looking up at the sky and the railing on the stairs. The focus immediately returned to the blonde girl who walked away, oblivious to the watcher's plight. "That was the first time I ever saw Buffy," said Xander softly.

"She's really important to you," said Ichigo.

The scene changed again to show a darkened apartment.

"_She's gone. She's gone to face the Master."_

"_He'll kill her."_

"_Rumor has it. Only we're not going to let it happen."_

"_Well, what do you propose we do about it?" _

"_Look, I know you can find this Master guy. He's underground, right? Take me to him."_

"_He's way out of your league. He'll kill you before you can even breathe."_

"_How can I put this? I don't like you. At the end of the day I pretty much think you're a vampire. But Buffy's got this big old yen for you. She thinks you're a real person. And right now I need you to prove her right."_

"_You're in love with her."_

"_Aren't you?"_

They now stood in a cavern with a body lying in a pool of water.

"_Buffy!"_

"_Shes dead. I can't hear her breathing."_

"_Maybe she drowned!"_

Ichigo and Tensa Zangetsu watched as Xander resuscitated the girl he loved.

"You saved her life," said an impressed Ichigo.

The scene changed to show a dark club. Soft music was playing in the background. None of that was as important as the girl that dominated the scene. Her very essence filled the memory.

"_Did I ever thank you for saving my life?"_

"_N-no."_

"_Don't you wish I would?"_

"What! What an ungrateful-"

"Ichigo!" snapped Tensa Zangetsu sharply.

"She'd died, alright! That'll mess with anyone's head!"

"Tch, whatever. What was wrong with that guy's face?"

"He's a vampire."

Ichigo and Tensa Zangetsu stared at Xander. "Vampires are real?" they asked in unison.

"They are in this world," answered Xander. Several memories of the groups battles with the undead played through his head before it stopped on one memory in particular.

"Who was that?"

"He was my best friend. Jesse."

"He was a vampire?"

"He and Willow were kidnapped the same night that Buffy showed up. I'd overheard her talking to Giles about vampires. We managed to save Willow but they got Jesse."

"Buffy knew about vampires before you did?"

"She's the Slayer."

_Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer. _

"One girl, that's it!"

"I know! That's what I said! It's not just Superman, there's Batman and Wonder Woman-"

"Goku had Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha-"

"I really want to know what idiot thought dumping all this on one person was a good idea so I can kick his ass!"

"You and me both!"

"As interesting as this is, perhaps we're getting off the subject," said Tensa Zangetsu.

"There's a subject?" asked Xander and Ichigo blankly together.

"We _were_ talking about the girls you keep ignoring," said Tensa Zangetsu slyly to Ichigo.

"Like who?" demanded Ichigo. Immediately images of a busty woman with green hair wearing a skull-shaped helmet the color of bone came into view.

"Nel?" asked a startled Ichigo before he rounded on Xander, "she's just a little kid!"

The image of Nel changed to a full body shot of the voluptuous woman gazing longingly at Ichigo. The bottom of her breast were clearly visible from the bottom of the torn shirt she wore.

"That's your definition of a little kid?" asked Xander with a raised brow. Ichigo blushed.

The image then changed to someone Ichigo was far more familiar with. "Orihime?" he whispered softly.

Xander concentrated as hard as he could on the show, on one episode in particular.

_Orihime stared down at a bracelet on her wrist._

"_I'm giving you this."_

"Hey, I know that voice," said Ichigo softly.

"_While you're wearing this, it'll place a special spiritual membrane around you that will prevent anyone but us Arrancars from detecting you." The viewpoint changed from Orihime holding the bracelet while standing in the precipice world to the one speaking to her._

"Ulquiorra Cifer!" snarled Ichigo.

"_At the same time, you'll be able to pass through objects at will," continued Ulquiorra. "Wear it and don't take it off."_

"_Yes," said Orihime resignedly._

"_I'll give you a twelve hour reprieve." Orihime's eyes widened in shock at Ulquiorra's words. She looked up to see Ulquiorra walking away into a garganta. "During that time, I'll allow you to say goodbye to only one person."But, if that person realizes what you're doing, I will consider it a violation of my order. Your time limit is midnight."_

_The scene changed to show Orihime looking at her wrist. "Settle everything by then and go to the place I told you to go," continued Ulquiorra's voice."Don't forget, you can only say goodbye to one person."_

The scene changed to show Ichigo's room. Ichigo's full attention turned to the three sleeping forms in his room. He looked from his two younger sisters to his own sleeping form, lying on the bed.

"_There we go," muttered Orihime as she phased through the window. She landed next to Ichigo's bed. She chuckled nervously. "I came here," she said to herself as she continued chuckling nervously. She smiled down at Ichigo's sleeping form before a sad expression came over her face. "Well, Kurosaki-kun, I came say goodbye."_

"What," whispered Ichigo softly as he watched.

"_Actually, I wanted to say goodbye to Tatsuki, Sado, Ishida, Kuchiki and many other people, but…" Orihime continued staring down at Ichigo when a sudden noise startled her. She looked over Ichigo's bed nervously and spotted his younger sisters sleeping on the floor. Yuzu's head was propped up on the side of Ichigo's bed. Orihime smiled as she spotted the dirty dishes. "I see, Yuzu and Karin ate dinner here today. I suppose they'd want to. They were sad that you weren't around for so long. They wanted to eat dinner with you in your room." Orihime began to blush. "Kurosaki-kun's room?" she muttered to herself before she began to look around. "Come to think of it, this is the first time I've come to Kurosaki's room alone. It smells like him," she said to herself as she stared around the room with watery eyes. Tentatively, Orihime's hand reached down and slipped into Ichigo's bandaged hand. The crescent moon could be seen shinning through the part in the curtain's as Orihime leaned over ichigo's sleeping form. Slowly she leant down, coming over closer to pressing their faces together. A soft and melancholy melody began to play._

"Music?" asked Tensa Zangetsu softly.

"It's an anime, remember?"

Tensa Zangetsu nodded and continued to watch Ichigo, who was entranced by what he was seeing.

_Orihime's lips drew ever closer to Ichigo's lips. Her hand tightened its grip on Ichigo's hand._

_The scene changed suddenly to show Ichigo in shinigami robes as he blocks Sora's hand. Soundlessly, he turns and speaks to Orihime, who blinks up at him in surprise._

_The scene began to change rapidly as Orihime remembered each moment._

_Orihime crosses her arms over her chest, performing the Don Kanonji laugh. Ichigo looks at her in horror before he points into the ceiling as he speaks to her. Orihime quickly mimics him a moment later._

_Orihime worriedly tries to calm down Tatsuki who was sticking her tongue out at a tense Ichigo._

_Ichigo, Sado, Mizuiro and Keigo run away from one of the teachers._

_Orihime turns and spots Ichigo behind her. She smiles before saying something that shocks him._

_Ichigo charges against Byakuya. In the distance his friends are watching. Orihime has climbed a tree to get a better view. As Ichigo's spiritual pressure explodes, washing the landscape with white light, everyone else covers themselves from the onslaught. Orihime watches unflinchingly with a smile on her face._

_Orihime kneels next to prone Ichigo. She clutches at the shinigami robes she is wearing as Ichigo looks at her with softened eyes._

_Ichigo blockes Yammy's punch. His eyes are resolute as he stares back at his opponent. Orihime's eyes are shinning as she stares at Ichigo._

_Rukia forces Ichigo to apologize to Orihime. Orihime stares into Ichigo's determined gaze._

_Orihime is kneeling next to a sweaty Ichigo. Dressed in his shinigami robes, he speaks to her as he stands. He makes a fist as he speaks before he turns a confident gaze on her._

_Orihime's tears fell onto Ichigos cheeks as she leaned over his unconscious form. "It's no good," she said as she cried, "I can't do it."_

Ichigo reached up and touched his cheek.

"_I'm no good," she said as she wiped her tears, "I'm doing this even though it's our goodbye." She stood up and leaned into Ichigo's window. "Kurosaki-kun, I had a lot of things that I wanted to do. I wanted to become a schoolteacher. I wanted to become an astronaut. I wanted to be a cake maker. I wanted to go to a doughnut shop that had all kinds of doughnuts and say I wanted everything. I also wanted to go to an ice cream shop and say that I wanted everything." Orihime sighed, "I wish I had five lives!" She smiled and raised four fingers. "I would be born in a different town each time. I'd fill my stomach with different things each time. I'd have a different job each time. And each time," she trailed off as she looked back down at Ichigo with a watery smile. "I'd fall in love with the same person. Thank you, Kurosaki-kun."_

_The scene faded into white as the camera zoomed into the crescent moon that shone through the window._

"_Goodbye," came Orihime's voice._

A light rain began to fall. Tensa Zangetsu frowned at the sky for a moment before he stepped toward Ichigo.

"She never said anything," said Ichigo hollowly as he heard Tensa Zangetsu approach.

"She always did," said Xander. Ichigo whirled on Xander, tears in his eyes.

"When!"

"Whenever she looked at you," said Xander as the rain grew in intensity, "whenever she touched you, whenever she said your name. When she cried for you to stop fighting because she couldn't bear to see you hurt!" The rain grew into a torrent as Xander yelled. "Whenever she put aside her pacifist ideals in order to protect you! Her love for you is written into her every action!" The rain beat down on the three figures like a relentless hammer. The sands flooded until the water reached their kneecaps. The center tower began to crack and several stones fell from it. "The only time I've seen love in someone's face is when she is looking at you!"

Ichigo stepped back as if struck. Tensa Zangetsu stared at Xander in horrified realization.

"But they're your parents," muttered Tensa Zangetsu in disbelief.

"His parent's?" asked Ichigo in confusion, "what do they have to-"

Ichigo watched as the scenery changed yet again.

_A five year old Xander proudly held up a drawing before an older man balled it up and bounced it off his head._

_An older woman slapped the back of his head and pushed him toward the kitchen. He returned with a beer bottle he meekly offered to her._

_A belt came down on a seven year old Xander again and again._

_The woman waved dismissively as Xander held his stomach in seeming pain._

_Hiding in a bush, Xander stuffed a Twinkie into his mouth ravenously._

_A twelve year old Xander didn't dodge fast enough as the old man smacked him in the head with a bottle._

_The two adults are yelling and fighting with each other as fourteen year old Xander retreated to the roof of his house._

"Who," began Ichigo before he swallowed then clenched his sword angrily. "Those are your parents!" he turned back toward Xander only to find him sitting on the ground, clutching his knees to his chest. His wracking sobs are obvious even though he tried to hide his face between his knees. It was no longer raining, although the ground still resembled a swamp. The sky was completely black. There was not even a single star in the sky.

A hand on his arm drew Ichigo's attention to Tensa Zangetsu, who stared at Xander sadly. "That is why all the towers are broken," he whispered hoarsely. "They are all that remains of his hopes and dreams."

"_Xander?"_ came a voice from all directions. A blazing sun burst into life in the sky, blinding both Ichigo and Tensa Zangetsu for a moment. Once they recovered they saw that Xander no longer wept. Instead, he paced back and forth angrily as he looked around at the sky. _"Xander!"_

"That's Willow!" Xander snarled.

"Ichigo," began Tensa Zangetsu before Ichigo cut him off.

"I'm on it," he said as he faded.

"Hey, where's he going?" asked Xander.

"He's going to help your friend."

"Why can't I go?"

"Have you tried to return to your body?" asked Tensa Zangetsu pointedly.

Xander ducked his head. "Yes."

"Whatever has brought us here and placed us within your body has removed your control. Don't worry, Ichigo can handle things in your place."

"Yeah, I guess anyone could," muttered Xander. Tensa Zangetsu frowned at his statement. A window shimmered into view in front of them.

"_U~irō-san, watashi-wa zandā wanai. Watashi-wa jissai ni-wa Kurosaki Ichigo-da," said Ichigo._

"What the hell is he doing?" asked Xander.

"He's talking to your friend," said Tensa Zangetsu in confusion.

"_Xander?" asked Willow tentatively._

"But why doesn't he speak English to her?"

"He doesn't know English."

"But we've been talking in English all this time!"

Tensa Zangetsu looked at him in confusion before he realized the problem. "This is your soul, Xander. You're not actually speaking. We are talking directly to each other, spirit to spirit. No words are needed. Your mind interprets that communication as spoken words."

"Oh. Well he needs to speak English!"

"_Then tell me what to say, dumbass!" came Ichigo's voice in his head._

"Ah, okay, think in English, think in English," muttered Xander to himself.

**(]ooo((=============**

"Why are you speaking in Japanese?" asked Willow as she stared at her friend.

"Ah, sorry about that. I don't actually know English. I'm learning it on the fly right now. In any case, I'm not Xander. Or, rather, Xander is here but so are some other people. My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. Xander says you'll know who I am."

Willow stared at her friend agape. "Are you really Ichigo?" she asked softly.

"Yes."

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod," babbled Willow.

"_Ichigo, you need to stop her now, otherwise she won't stop babbling. Tell her not to worry!"_

"Don't worry Willow, everything will be alright."

"_Tell her I'm still in here and that we'll figure this out."_

"Xander is still in here. We'll figure this out." Willow stopped babbling at Ichigo's words. She moved to hug him when she passed straight through him.

"_Whoa!"_

"_Is she a spirit?"_

"What happened, are you dead?"

"N-no, I, I was dressed as a ghost and I became a ghost!" said Willow in realization, "and you dressed as Ichigo and you became Ichigo!"

"_Tell her it's a good thing she wore the sheet over her clothes."_

"It's a good thing you wore a sheet over your clothes-"

"_Otherwise you could have become a hooker!"_

"Otherwise you could have become a hooker-eh!" Ichigo stiffened as he heard Xander's laughter bubble up from the inner world. Willow looked at him in shock before she began ineffectually trying to slap him.

"How could you say something like that! I am not a hooker!"

"I-I'm sorry, Xander made me say that!"

"Xander would never say that you big doo-doo head!"

"I said I'm really sorry, stop that it's really freaking me out!" yelled Ichigo as Willow settled for waving her hand _in_ his face in lieu of slapping him. Willow stopped, but she still frowned at him. "Look, I'm going to perform Jinzen for a second." Willow said nothing and continued to glare at him. "I'll be right back," he said as he closed his eyes.

**(]ooo((=============**

When Ichigo entered the inner world, he found Xander rolling on the ground laughing hysterically.

"You got me in trouble dumbass! Now she's gonna think I'm a jerk!"

"You shoulda seen the look on your face!" yelled Xander through his laughter.

"Will you stop acting like a buffoon and get serious, Tensa Zangetsu help-" Ichigo stopped as he stared at Tensa Zangetsu. There was a small but definite smile on his zanpakuto's face. "You're laughing at me," said Ichigo dully.

"The expression on your face was quite humorous, Ichigo."

Xander laughed harder.

**(]ooo((=============**

Ichigo opened his eyes. "Baka," he cursed.

"What was that mister?"

"Nevermind. Xander was playing a joke on me. I didn't mean what I said earlier."

"Oh, that does sound like Xander," said Willow as she calmed down. "If everyone became their costumes we need to figure out how to change every- Buffy!"

The laughing in Ichigo's head immediately stopped.

"We need to find Buffy!" cried Willow as she looked around wildly. "Buffy!" she yelled as she spotted the Slayer wandering warily down the street toward them. Ichigo began to run after hem when he realized his right sleeve was no longer torn.

"_Oy, Zangetsu, why are you back in your old form? And why does it feel weird?"_

"_That sword is not me, even though it is."_

"_Eh?"_

"_You know, that really doesn't explain anything," chimed in Xander._

"_Nevermind that! Ichigo, go help Buffy."_

"_Che, whatever."_

Ichigo rushed forward to were Willow was trying to comfort Buffy.

"Listen, you're not yourself right now."

"When my father hears about this he will surely have you locked up for accosting me! You sir knight! This trollop is accosting me!"

"Trollop!"

"Look, just calm down!"

"I am calm!"

"_Dude, she thinks you're a knight, use it!"_

"_How am I supposed to do that, Xander!"_

"_Here just repeat what I say."_

"_And I'm supposed to trust you now?"_

"_Just do it!"_

"_Fine!"_

"My lady, if you could give me your name?"

"I am Elizabeth, Lady of Buffdom, daughter to the Duke of Buffonia. And who are you sir knight?"

"I am Ichigo Kurosaki, a captain of the thirteen court squad guards."

"You are a foreigner, sir knight?" asked Elizabeth with a raised brow.

"So are you milady. It seems that we have both been pulled from our homes through some form of witchcraft."

Elizabeth crossed herself. "Witchcraft? Are you certain?"

"Yes, I am. But know this, milady, I swear upon my honor that I will protect you this night."

Elizabeth calmed immediately, "oh thank you. I will make sure Father rewards you handsomely for this."

"The honor of aiding you is more than enough for me."

"_Oi, no flirting with my girl!"_

"_Xander, __**please**__, let's focus on finding a solution to our problem."_

"_He's just jealous."_

"_Ichigo!"_

"_Screw you, strawberry!"_

"_Why you-"_

"_**Ichigo! **__Focus! Xander, stop goading him."_

"…_fine!"_

"…_che!"_

"Willow, we need to find out what's happe-"

"Demon!" yelled Elizabeth. Ichigo burst into action and spun around Elizabeth, pushing her behind him as he spun forward, ready to battle whatever threat was present. A single SUV sped down the otherwise empty street.

"There's nothing here," said Ichigo.

"There! There is the demon!" yelled Elizabeth again.

"That's a car Buffy," said Willow dully.

"What does it want?" she whimpered against Ichigo's back.

"It doesn't want anything, it's just a car," said Ichigo.

"_Tell her it's a contraption known as a horseless carriage."_

"It's a contraption known as a horseless carriage."

"A horseless carriage?" asked Elizabeth tentatively as she stepped back from her cowering position. "Whoever heard of such a thing?"

"_Tell her the spell must have pulled you through time as well."_

"You must have been pulled from the past," said Willow before Ichigo could. "What year is it?"

"The year of our lord 1797," answered Elizabeth.

"It's _2010_," answered Willow.

"Impossible," muttered Elizabeth.

"2010? It isn't 2007?" asked Ichigo in spurprise.

"No, it isn't."

"Huh, how strange," muttered Ichigo.

"You are from the year 2007?" asked a wide-eyed Elizabeth.

"Yes," answered Ichigo, "it seems that I was pulled _to_ the past instead of _from_ the past. I wonder why that-"

"Demons!" yelled Elizabeth as she pointed behind Ichigo and Willow.

"Oh, what now?" muttered Willow. Ichigo and Willow turned slowly only to see several small demons charging down the street at them. Ichigo charged forward faster than either girl could follow and was about to bring his sword down on the lead demon's head when Tensa Zangetsu's voice stopped him.

"_Stop! Those are not demons!"_

"_What the hell are you talking about?" said both Ichigo and Xander in their head at the same time._

"_Feel their spiritual energy, they are children!"_

As soon as Tensa Zangetsu finshed speaking, Ichigo realized that he felt human spiritual energy in all the demons. It was _muffled_ somehow.

The lead demon, a gremlin looking thing, leapt at Ichigo with a snarl. Ichigo grabbed it out of the air and tossed it into the group, bowling over the other monsters. When they had all recovered enough to try and make it to their feet, Ichigo raised his arms and yelled, raising his spiritual pressure at the same time. The monsters fled in terror.

"You saved us!" cried Elizabeth in relief.

"That was great Ichigo!" said Willow happily as she instinctively moved to hug her best friend.

Elizabeth watched the girl pass through Ichigo's body completely. This was certainly too much. Her Father would hear of this nonsense and deal with it accordingly. In the meantime, Elizabeth fainted.

"Um, she just fainted," announced Ichigo blankly to Willow.

"Well, pick her up, we need to get out of here!"

"_We need to go home."_

"Xander says we need to go home."

"Oh! That's good, let me think," said Willow as she looked around. "Buffy's house, it's the closest. Come on, it's this way."

A few minute's trek later found the three travelers walking into 1630 Revello drive.

"Mrs. Summers?" called out Willow as she walked in. "Mrs. Summers!" There was silence in the house. "Good, she must not be home. Come on in." Ichigo helped escort the recently awakened Elizabeth inside.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"You fainted," Ichigo told her.

"We should be safe in here," said Willow right before a monstrous hand burst through the glass on the front door.

Willow and Elizabeth screamed. Ichigo calmly turned and bashed the arm in the elbow with the pommel of his sword. The monster yelped and pulled its arm back before retreating.

"You saved us again!" exclaimed Buffy happily.

"I swore to keep you safe didn't I?" asked Ichigo rhetorically. A piercing scream came in from outside. "Nani?" Ichigo ran out the front door.

"Where's he going?"

"Surely to help whoever screamed. Do not worry, he will return for us. He swore to help us."

"Yeah, he does that," agreed Willow. She turned to Elizabeth and found her examining one of the pictures on a table.

"This girl, she could be me," muttered Elizabeth.

"She is you," exclaimed Willow before she amended herself, "Well, that is, the person whose body you are in right now. We have to figure out a way to end this spell so that everything goes back to normal."

"Will I return home once the spell is ended?"

"Well, if Ichigo really did get pulled from his world to here, I can only assume you did as well. Breaking the spell should send all the summoned spirits home. I think."

"You do not know?"

"I haven't really studied a lot of magic."

Cordelia burst into the room. "Why the hell was Jo-Jo the Dog-faced Boy attacking me? Look at my costume!" she cried as she fingered her torn sleeve, "I'll never get my deposit back from Party Town now!"

"Cordelia!" cried Willow before she stepped in front of the girl. "Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends." She considered that statement for a moment before scrunching up her face and adding, "Well, sort of."

"That's nice, Willow," said Cordelia sarcastically as she raised a brow at Willow. "And you went mental when?"

"You know us?" asked Willow in surprise.

"Yeah, lucky me," she said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "What's with the name game?"

"We've been turned into the people we dressed as," said Ichigo as he strolled back into the house.

"Since when did you become a samurai, dweeb-boy?"

"I saved your life just now," growled Ichigo. Cordelia flushed and turned away from him. Ichigo bit down on his temper. "Someone cast a spell. Xander dressed as me and somehow I'm in control of his body."

"He's Ichigo!" chirped Willow.

"From Bleach?" asked Cordelia in surprise.

"You know Bleach?" asked a stunned Willow.

"_**She**__ knows Bleach?"_

"Yeah, Ichigo Kurosaki. Nice to meet you," said Ichigo as he and Tensa Zangetsu wondered what the hell Bleach was. He waved at Elizabeth. "Buffy dressed as a noblewoman and now she's Lady Elizabeth."

"Lady Elizabeth of Buffonia, daughter to the Duke of Buffdom," she pronounced regally.

"Buffonia?" asked Cordelia in confusion.

"It's a thing, don't worry about it," muttered Willow.

"_This is fun and all but we need to find Giles."_

"Xander says that we need to find Giles."

"Oh, that's right, but, where would he be?"

"_The library," said Xander._

"The library?" asked Ichigo.

"The library!" yelled Willow. "You guys stay here, I'll go get him!" she ordered before running through the wall.

"Whoa, what was that?" asked a wide-eyed Cordelia.

"She was turned into a ghost," said Ichigo distractedly as he examined the picture that Elizabeth handed him.

"This is all crazy! There are people turned into real monsters out there! What are we going to do!"

"It is not our place to do anything. This brave Knight will protect us."

"Okay, what's that riff?"

"She's from the past," said Ichigo as he turned to examine the rest of the house, "just roll with it. Come on, let's relax on the couch for now."

Ichigo slumped onto the middle of the couch, resting his sword between his legs. Cordelia flopped down into a corner, as far from Ichigo as she could manage. Elizabeth daintly set down next to Ichigo. She blushed as she let her knee rest against his. This was so daring, what would Father say?

**(]ooo((=============**

"Keep watch Ichigo," called out Tensa Zangetsu as the window they had been looking through blinked out of existence.

"_Will do."_

"Uh, aren't we going to keep watch too?" asked Xander.

"No, we aren't," said Tensa Zangetsu. "You and I must have a talk."

"Um, about what?"

"Your despair."

"Come again."

"I can see what you could be, you know." Tensa Zangetsu waved his hard over the landscape. "Here in your inner world there is nothing that can be hidden, not even your potential."

"What the what now?"

"Stop that!" said Tensa Zangetsu sharply. Xander stepped back reflexively. "Stop acting like a buffoon!" he continued angrily before he took a deep breath to calm himself. "You don't need to hide who you are from me, Alexander," he said softly.

Xander turned away from him in shame. A light fog rolled in. "So, what of it?"

"You have been beaten down. Deconstructed from the outside in. Do you want to be strong?"

Xander turned so sharply his neck cracked. His eyes were wide and they burned with a strange intensity. "What?"

"Do you want to be strong?" Tensa Zangetsu asked calmly. "Do you want it to stop raining here? Do you want these towers to climb so high that they pierce the heavens? Do you want to be strong?"

"Why are you doing this?" asked Xander as he trembled with emotion.

"You opened Ichigo's eyes," said Tensa Zangetsu gratefully. "Even if he loses all his power against Aizen, he will now have _her_ to sustain him. You have protected Ichigo, Alexander. You have helped me fulfill my greatest desire. And so I will help you fulfill yours, the only way I know how. Do you want to be strong?"

"Yes," answered Xander softly as he trembled with desire and hope, "yes I do."

"Then prepare yourself," said Tensa Zangetsu seriously," because this will be the hardest test you will ever have to bear."


	2. How many references can you spot?

**Chapter 2 – How many references can you spot?**

"I'm ready," said Xander as he stared at Tensa Zangetsu nervously.

"I _know_ you are Xander. Remember that. I believe in you," he said firmly before he plunged his sword into Xander's chest.

Xander screamed as he was burned alive. The fire spread from the wound on his chest, burning away every atom of his existence. His legs were the first to be consumed. The flame traveled up his shoulder and arms until the fire burned his fingertips to flames burned their way up his throat and engulfed his head. And still he screamed.

Xander collapsed to the ground as Tensa Zangetsu pulled his blade from Xander's chest. Xander's chest heaved as the pain vanished. He finally opened his eyes, expecting to see his blackened and charred limbs in front of him. They were fine, unharmed.

"What did you do to me?"

"When Rukia gave Ichigo her Shinigami powers, she did it in the external world. And _she_ did it, not her zanpakuto. We are in your inner world, Alexander. And I am not Ichigo. I am the embodiment of his power. I used our raw power to bolster your own. Something that can only be done in here."

"I felt like I was being burned away," said Xander as he struggled to his feet.

"There is something odd about this world. Or perhaps I should say this reality. It is difficult to express spiritual pressure here. Almost as if there is something blocking it," said Tensa Zangetsu with a frown. "In any case, you experienced a fraction of Ichigo's true power without that buffer in place."

"Whoa, that's his power?" asked Xander in awe. "My body's not disintegrating or anything like that, is it?"

"If there was not that force blunting our strength, you would have disintegrated the moment we manifested in your body, Alexander."

"I expect that would have killed everyone in Sunnydale too, huh?"

"No. They would not have even been able to sense our spiritual pressure unless we specifically brought it down to a level where it could affect the world around us."

"Like Aizen," whispered Xander.

"Exactly. Unfortunately, you would have been exposed directly to our spiritual energy because of whatever brought us here tonight. But that is not what matters. It is time to claim your own power Alexander. It is time to prove worthy of your sword."

"What sword? I don't have latent shinigami powers like Ichigo did!"

"Really?" said Tensa Zangetu with a cocked eyebrow as he pointedly glanced at Xander's left hip. Xander looked down then stilled in shock.

"Impossible," muttered Xander as he stared at the non-descript long sword on his hip.

"Interesting style," said Tensa Zangetsu as Xander drew the blade from its leather scabbard.

"But I'm not a shinigami," muttered Xander as he stared at the sword in his hands.

"Alexander, you dressed as a Shinigami tonight. You may have dressed up as Ichigo but you still dressed as someone with Shinigami powers. It was a simple matter to awaken them in your soul after that."

"So when you leave…"

"Yes, that change should remain. At least, that is my hope. Now, it is time for you to abandon your mask, Alexander." Xander stilled at Tensa Zangetsu's words. When he glanced at the spirit he saw Tensa Zangetsu smirking at him. "Did you believe I would not be able to see it? Ichigo has worn a mask since the death of his mother. Tonight was the first time someone has seen him without it. You are still wearing yours."

"I don't know what-"

"Perhaps you do not," said Tensa Zangetsu as he placed a hand on the nearest cracked tower. "You have been forced into a role, Alexander. And I think you know by whom."

"That doesn't, it isn't, whu-what, it's not-"

"It is time, Alexander, to grow past the blundering buffoon."

"And became what? King of the Cretins?"

Tensa Zangetsu glanced at the broken tower next to him. "Perhaps you are right."

"I know that isn't a real thing but- wait, what?"

"No more waiting," said Tensa Zangetu's firmly as he blurred into motion and plunged his hand into Xander's chest.

"Okay, totally freaky! I think I should freak out, don't you? Yep, completely freaking out here!" babbled Xander as he stared at the hand that was _inside_ his body.

"You are ready, Alexander. You can defeat it. I believe in you," Tensa Zangetsu assured him. Xander looked up to see Tensa Zangetsu giving him a small smile. Then he _pulled_. Xander screamed as he felt a part of himself be ripped away. It felt like his skin had been torn off all at once. Xander collapsed to his knees as he clutched at his chest. That hurt!

"Typical. What're you begging for now, Useless?" Xander stilled at the sound of his father's voice. He began to cringe reflexively when he remembered where he was. How could his father have gotten into his inner world? "You listening punk or did your brains finally dribble down your ears?"

Slowly he looked up, past the black boots and black jeans. Past the blood red shirt and black jacket that he clearly remembered hung in _his_ closet. Past all of that to see his own face as it stared back at him. "What?"

"Surprise!" he yelled in his father's voice. Then he laughed. A high pitched warbling laugh. A hyena's laugh.

"The hyena," whispered Xander in horror.

"Of course, stupid! What did you think you really wanted all that power gone? Even you aren't a big enough idiot to throw away all those great powers. Super strength, super senses." The other Xander drew in a sharp breath through his nose. "God I can still remembered the way she smelled. If it wasn't for your worthless conscience we would be mounting her right now. But that's alright, because now I'll set things right."

"What do you mean, set things right! Who are you! And why do you sound like Tony!" Xander scrambled to his feet.

"You have got to be the dumbest S.O.B. I've ever even heard of," he said with a sneer. "I'm you, fool. Or at least what you would be if you weren't a spineless coward. And I sound like Tony because, honestly, who would want to sound like you? Tony has respect. And power. And you still don't get what this little tête-à-tête is really for?" He snorted before he grinned savagely, "I'm free now!" he cried as he spread his arms, "I'm no longer trapped in that dark corner you shove everything worthwhile in so you don't have to live with the realization that you're a complete and utter failure!" He laughed at the way Xander flinched away from him. "I'm free now and I'm going to put _you_ into that deep dark corner. Then I'll be in charge!" he yelled with a slap to his chest. "And you can watch me be everything that you can't!"

"No way, Zangetsu is that tru-" Xander stilled as he realized that Tensa Zangetsu was nowhere to be seen.

"Sword boy disappeared the moment I showed up. He knew what the deal was. But he thought _you_ could beat _me_. Hah! Now I'll get to run around with blondie and nerd-girl. I'll be sure to let you watch as I mount them again and again."

"Ragh!" Xander leapt at his darker half with a yell as he brought down his sword to split his dark side in two. Dark Xander smirked before he casually brought his own blade up to block Xander's attack. Xander stared wide-eyed at the other sword.

"What," began Dark Xander as his smirk grew into a sneer, "did you think I couldn't do anything you couldn't? That's pretty funny." Dark Xander drilled his foot into Xander's stomach. The attack blew Xander off his feet and sent him flying nearly 30 feet straight before gravity once again took hold.

Xander threw up. He began to wipe his mouth when he heard the squishy sound of footsteps rushing toward him. He spun to his feet in time to receive his counterpart's charge. Dark Xander's sword bounced off his own with a resounding clang that vibrated throughout his arm and shoulder. It was all he could do to keep his sword from being forced down from the strength of the blow.

He had barely recovered when the follow-up swing came. Xander gripped his sword with both hands and turned to block the sweep aimed at his left side. The blow made him brace himself against the soft ground. Xander cursed as he noticed that his opponent was only using one hand and was already brining the sword around to attack his other side. Xander turned to his right and braced himself. He was barely in time to block the attack.

"I didn't know you were this pathetic!" yelled Dark Xander with a laugh as he stepped back and cracked his neck. "No wonder blondie thinks of you as another one of the girls!"

Xander swung his sword at Dark Xander. Dark Xander parried the blade, pushing him along his swing further than he intended, before pushing his blade up and away from him, leaving him open to a slashing counter attack. Xander leaned back as far as he was able but he was still caught across the chest. The long gash burned as Xander stumbled back. It wasn't very deep but it was very distracting.

Laughter brought Xander's attention up as Dark Xander licked some of Xander's blood off his blade. "First blood goes to me and so will the last!" Xander braced himself as best he could as Dark Xander charged forward and brought his sword along the ground for an upward slash. Placing his sword in the way, Xander felt like a truck hit him as Dark Xander's slash pressed his sword back into his body. The follow through lifted Xander off his feet and threw him into the air.

Xander's mind boggled as he flew through the air from the force of the attack. He heard a yell and saw Dark Xander flying towards him! When did he learn to do that! Xander twisted as best he could and attacked first as Dark Xander came into range. Dark Xander, impossibly, changed directions in mid air and came around to his back. Xander twisted again and managed to block a thrust at his heart. The attack altered his trajectory even as it increased his momentum. Xander spotted movement out of the corner of his eye and stabbed behind himself blindly. His sword jarred as it struck true.

"Argh!" came Dark Xander's cry of pain. Dark Xander appeared in front of him and kicked downward. Xander saw that Dark Xander was cradling his shoulder for a brief second before all the air was knocked out of his lungs. Xander finally managed to draw breath a moment before he struck the ground, sending soggy sand flying everywhere. Xander struggled to catch his breath as he swayed onto his feet. He was bent over, his hands on his knees when he saw a shadow growing under him. Xander dove to the side as Dark Xander crashed into the ground, sending a wave of soggy sand flying away from the impact. Xander was borne along by the wave, tumbling as he tried to catch his footing on the moving terrain.

"How the hell is he doing this?" muttered Xander to himself. Was his dark half really that powerful? How was he going to beat him? Was he supposed to?

_You can defeat it. I believe in you._

Xander remembered the words of Tensa Zangetsu as the wave finally lost all momentum and dropped him to the ground. He rolled along the ground until he skidded to a stop. He rose to his feet. His aching ribs protested as he gulped in large lungful breaths of air-

_Do you think that's air you're breathing now?_

His proud geek mind immediately connected the references and realized what was happening. What was he breathing? They weren't in the real world at the moment. This was all in his mind, or, er, his soul rather. He was acting like Neo when he first entered the computer construct. There was no air for him to gasp for! He wasn't even physically here, even if he felt it!

Time slowed down as Xander's brain, propelled by this revelation, shifted into a higher gear. He watched as Dark Xander launched himself up out of the crater his attack had created and paused at the apex of his jump. He spun toward Xander and jumped again, horizontally this time.

_Do or do not. There is no try._

_Do not _think_ you are, _know_ you are._

_Don't believe in yourself! Believe in the me that believes in you!_

_You are not the man you used to be. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you ever used to be. And now you have come at the crossroads of the destiny. It's time for you to choose._

_Never give up! Never surrender!_

_You are ready, Alexander. You can defeat it. I believe in you._

Xander's grip tightened on his sword. This was _his_ sword, _his_! Forged from the strength of _his_ soul! Xander stepped forward and disappeared.

Dark Xander stared at the spot Xander vanished from in shock. Movement from the corner of his eye caused him to bring his sword up and black Xander's attack. The slash blew him completely off course, sending him flying through the air.

"Impossible! You are a weakling!" he screamed as he watched Xander fly up to him.

"Screw that and screw you!" yelled Xander as he brought his sword down with all the force he could muster. Dark Xander was sent flying into the ground. The impact sent a huge dust cloud into the air, obscuring visibility in the area. Xander grinned as he floated in the air. This was **awesome!**

A wave of pressure accompanied by a roar pushed Xander back even as it cleared the dust in the air. An aura of dark crimson energy was flaring out from his counterpart. Xander dodged to the side on pure instinct. It was almost enough. A red flaming blur flew past him, taking his hand with it. Xander screamed as he clutched at his maimed arm. He flew away even as he stared at where his hand used to be.

This was a reality created by his consciousness, his sense of self. In here every thought he had became reality. In here he was The One, he was Q, he was Eternity, he was the Source. His severed hand vanished into nothingness even as a new hand grew from his wrist. He flexed his hand even as he heard a boom that signaled his opposite's continued pursuit. He looked at the sword in his hand for a moment.

He could do this! A bright golden aura flared into life around him. His perception of time stretched until he could perceive a grain of sand as it slowly fell to the earth. He looked up from the falling grain to see Dark Xander's charge continue toward him at a still blistering pace. Xander surged forward and met the attack head on. The energy from the two attacks colliding washed out over the landscape, flattening whatever meager vegetation there was and causing the nearby tower to crack and begin to slowly crumble.

Dark Xander straightened as he landed on the ground. He needed to locate the whelp. How could he have possible progressed so quickly? And where did he find the inner strength to challenge him?

"Hiten Mitsurugiryu Ryu Tsui Sen!" He rolled to the side as Xander's tremendous slash came down on where he used to be.

"Stealing moves from all the shows you've seen?" jeered Dark Xander, "well two can play at that game!" Dark Xander gripped the pommel of his sword with his left hand, stretching his right hand out to balance the tip of his blade. "Gatotsu: Ishiki!" He charged forward and thrust his sword forward. Xander leapt back, his enhanced abilities inadvertently carrying him forty feet further back than he intended.

He had to get this under control, although the extreme speed was totally great! Now he needed to land a solid hit on this guy. What attacks did he know that were almost impossible to defend against? "Hiten Mitsurugiryu Kuzu Ryu Sen!" yelled Xander as he charged forward, nine flashes of light following the path of his sword.

"Ashura!" Dark Xander's swords split into three, one in each hand and one in his mouth. His body then split again, each arm and his head splitting twice to resemble the traditional image of the Hindu Asura deities.

"That's cheating!" yelled Xander as he closed in. How the hell had his double split his sword into three?

"Makyusen!" Each attack was met by another, the nine swords of Dark Xander canceling out the nine simultaneous attacks of Xander. They were both blown back by the force of the collision.

"Tsubame Gaeshi!" Xander looked up only to see three simultaneous attacks coming at him. He didn't know how his opponent split his sword earlier and he didn't have enough time to prep another Kuzu Ryu Sen. He could, however, do this. Xander sheathed his sword before he stepped forward with his left foot.

Xander's near invisibly fast attack knocked both of Dark Xander's horizontal attacks aside. Xander continued his spin, pulling Dark Xander in with the vortex created by his speed. Dark Xander was forced to turn the final slash of his attack into a block against Xander's final attack. The force of Xander's blow sent him flying through the air with the speed of a bullet.

"Hiten-Mitsurugiryu Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki," whispered Xander to himself in awe. No wonder that was Kenshin's final technique. Xander considered his next move. What other technique had he seen someone else use? There were so many attacks that he wasn't sure which one to use. He had to make up his mind quickly though before his other self- "Raah!" He looked up to see his opposite charging at him. His sword was blurring in a strange manner. What was he- Xander recognized that attack!

"Quicksword!" yelled Xander. His perception of time slowed down until he no longer saw a blur of movement from his opponent's sword, but saw every small vibration the sword was making. He blocked one, two, three, six, eighteen, forty-seven attacks before Xander lost count. Xander sped up until he was finally able to make a lunge in between attacks.

Leaping back to create some space, Dark Xander thrust his hand forward. "Hadoken!"

Xander's brain froze for a moment as he watched the attack race toward him even as Dark Xander continued retreating. How the hell had his counterpart managed that? He grinned as an idea came to him. He swung his sword horizontally. "Sonic Boom!" A yellow arc of energy spun in a circle as it flew toward the other projectile. The attack cut the other in half and continued on its way.

"Big Bang Attack!" Dark Xander grinned as he used Vegeta's signature attack. Who knew that the brat's obsession with video games and anime would come in handy? He was stronger, with absolute certainty he knew was stronger. One of these attacks would overwhelm the weakling and then he would be in charge!

"Oh, now that's just cheating," grumbled Xander as the much larger ball of energy consumed his attack without even slowing down. Xander concentrated on an oft remembered image. This was one of Jessie's favorite attacks after all. His sword began to glow with a white light that drowned out his blade. "Engetsu!" His vertical swing created a rippling wave of energy that traveled up into the air as if it was the ground before it collided with Dark Xander's attack. There was a huge explosion as the two energy attacks cancelled each other out.

The world buzzed like static as a line of silver crossed over Dark Xander from his left hip to his right shoulder for the briefest of moments.

Both fighters were panting with the exertions of their recent attacks. Xander wondered what the hell was going to happen next. Obviously in here they could use almost any attack they could imagine. And with all the video games and anime and comics and cartoons Xander had watched, their imagination was already filled to overflowing with attack ideas. Should he use Samurai Jack's tremendous Horse Cut technique? That cool countermove from the last Highlander movie? Hmm, that could be a possibility with the guaranteed head cut and all. Xander was drawn out of his musings as Dark Xander charged at him.

They traded blows furiously as they both raced across the landscape. Xander nearly missed being decapitated and took a cut to his cheek instead. A quick thrust cut Dark Xander across the left bicep. A mistimed jump nearly cost Xander his foot and Dark Xander almost lost his head to Xander's slash.

Dark Xander blurred into motion around Xander in a classic speedster attack. Xander responded with an Incredible Hulk classic by smashing the ground, causing a small earthquake that threw Dark Xander off his feet. Xander charged after his opponent as he fell. Dark Xander recovered in midair and blocked Xander's slash. Their swords locked together as they pushed against each other. Xander's aura flared wildly as he began pushing his opponent back. Dark Xander's aura flared as he put more energy into his own push. Their auras grew again and then again as they each pushed as much energy against the other. Their swords slipped from their lock and they each went charging forward, past each other. They slowed their momentum and turned. They were almost a mile apart.

Range attack, what's a good range attack? though Xander furiously. Perhaps he could use a Kamehameha? "Wind Scar!" Inuyasha? They only watched that because Willow had insisted on it. Still, it did have a few cool moves. Xander concentrated as the energy raced toward him. He had to time this perfectly so he could- now!

"Backlash wave!" Xander's slashed resulted in a typhoon that drew in the energy of the other Xander's attack. Redoubled in strength the attack raced back toward Dark Xander. For a moment Xander wondered what would happen if his double used the backlash wave himself.

"Meido Zangetsuha!" Well that answers that, thought Xander as he watched the tears in space race toward him. Now how the hell was he supposed to counter something that tore holes in time and space? Wait, what did time and space mean in this place? Xander put that question to the back of his mind as another idea occurred to him. He raised his sword until the cross guard rested against his forehead. His sword burst into a crackling blaze of yellow energy. He swung the sword out until it pointed straight at Dark Xander.

"Special Sword Beam Cannon!" It wasn't a Kamehameha but the piercing power should work properly. Xander grinned as the attack absorbed or outright shattered Dark Xander's attack. Dragonball was _way_ better than Inuyasha!

Dark Xander screamed as he raised his sword. He exploded in green swirling energy that coalesced on his upraised sword. Suddenly the energy bulged as his blade expanded into the shape of a large drill. "**GIGA!**" He pointed large drill at Xander as he balanced the unwieldy weapon with his other hand. He pulled his hand away as he yelled "**DRILL!**" and the drill began to spin unbelievably fast. His aura flared blue as he launched forward, picking up speed with every moment. "**BREAKER!**"

Xander stared in absolute disbelief as the drill attack dispersed his Special Sword Beam Cannon and raced toward him. How the hell was he supposed to top that!

_With a man's soul and a strong back, go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb!_

What did time and space mean in a place that existed only because of his soul?

_Even if armed with hundreds of weapons... there are times when you just can't beat a man with a spear of conviction in his gut._

All this existed because he existed. But everything that had happened here he had made happen with his will.

_You believe that the strong exist to cull the weak. To use them as food. But you are mistaken. The strong exist, not to feed off of the weak, but to protect them!_

How strong was his will? How strong was his conviction? How strong was his determination?

_A true man doesn't die even if he's killed!_

What would it mean to lose here? What would happen to the others? To Willow? To Buffy? To Giles?

_Every man dies. Not every man truly lives._

Could he really exceed even himself? Could he truly move past everything his life had thrown at him? Could he really become more than he was now?

_My whole life, I struggled to gain my father's love and acceptance. But once I had it, I realized I lost myself getting there. I'd forgotten who I was. _

_How can he be the one if he's dead?_

_You have no chance! __**No chance!**_

No! He wouldn't give up! He would **never** surrender!

_Evil can only exist when good men do nothing._

_Never. I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me._

_The enemy is one, you are one. What is there to fear? Cast off your fear. Look forward! Go forward! Never stand still. Retreat and you will age. Hesitate and you will die._

_The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you._

_Lo there do I see my father. Lo there do I see my mother and my sisters and my brothers. Lo there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning. Lo, they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them, in the Halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live, forever._

_Everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming. I see the darkness spreading. I see death... and you are all that stands in his way._

_Aye, fight and you may die, run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade __**all**__ the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take __**our freedom!**_

_Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand! Men of the West!_

_Even when trapped by karma's cycle, the dreams we left behind will open the door! Even if the Universe stands in our way, our seething blood will determine what will be! We will break through Time and Space! And defy all who would stop us to grab hold of our path! Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann! Just who the hell do you think we are!_

The world buzzed like static for a brief moment as Xander stepped forward. When it stopped buzzing he was once again standing in place, his sword held casually by his side.

Dark Xander continued to rush forward, his attack only gaining in speed and intensity until the roar of his drill deafened all hearing, until the blaze of his aura blinded all sight, until the force of his burning spirit numbed all touch. Then the attack faded away to nothing as Xander's despair fell to the ground, nearly cut in half from his left hip to his right shoulder.

He could hear him gurgling and coughing wetly as he walked over to the fallen form of all his self-doubt and fears and hopelessness. The other Xander looked up at him in shock. "What?" he gurgled, "What happened?"

"I am Alexander Harris. I choose to become more than what I am."

"Im-" he coughed for a few moments, "impossible!"

"Yes, it is. So I went beyond the impossible. And now I am free." Xander brought his sword down. The form of his fallen foe burst like glass before fading away. Xander closed his eyes and breathed a sigh in relief. Suddenly he was beset by shaking on all sides. It felt like the world was closing in on him and he was being crushed into nothingness. As soon as it began it was gone. Xander fell to his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. Startled by something tickling his hands he opened his eyes. There was grass! Xander looked up and saw that there was grass as far as the eye could see. There were mountains in the distance capped by snow. There was a forest to his right, past a large lake. Turning he saw that there were no more broken towers strewn in the landscape. There was only one tower made of white gleaming stone that rose proudly into the clouds. The sun was setting and a few fluffy clouds floated lazily in the sky.

"I like this place," said Tensa Zangetsu from behind Xander. Xander turned to regard him.

"Could he have really killed me?"

"Yes."

"Would you have let that happen?"

"Yes, I would have."

"What! Why?"

"You needed to prove yourself worthy of the power we are giving you. If you lost here, you would have forever been at the mercy of your self-doubt and despair. You could never have broken free."

"I thought I was going to lose."

"For a moment you were. But you found the strength to believe in yourself."

"It wasn't easy."

"I saw, but I am still unsure," said Tensa Zangetsu slowly as he looked down in thought. He gazed at Xander intently for a moment. "How did you beat him?"

"I combined the Doc Brown method with Superman Two and used a little Kamina for my last attack."

Tensa Zangetsu stared at him blankly.

"Uh, okay, uh, I hit him with an attack so fast it struck him in the past. It looks like the attack was so fast his body didn't even react to it until I'd finished the attack in the present time."

The zanpakuto stared at Xander agape. "You, you moved so fast your attack traveled in time?"

"Pretty much."

"You do realize that all these attacks and techniques you use didn't actually occur?"

"Uh, yeah, I figured it was just the way my mind was interpreting our battle of wills."

"Oh. Good. When you finally meet your zanpakuto here you will be limited to the techniques you have learned from it."

"I thought it was something like that. What about," Xander waved at were Dark Xander's corpse had lain, "that thing?"

"It will trouble you no more. However, you must still guard your heart. You can feel all new despair. But it will no longer be as deep as before."

_Hey guys, are you two almost done in there? You've been making me feel weird all night!_

"We are finished Ichigo."

"Hey, what's been going on?"

_Ah, we got to Buffy's house. Ran into that Angel guy. I almost cut his head off, by the way._

"Almost? You don't think you could finish the job?"

_Willow asked me not to._

"Curses!"

"Have you found a way to return us home?" asked Tensa Zangetsu as he ignored Xander's tantrum.

_Uh, yeah, we ran into Cordelia, I saved everyone from this stupid vampire. And a Sith. And I'm pretty sure that was Miyamoto Musashi earlier._

"Whoa, did you beat him too?" asked Xander.

_Yeah. It was kind of disappointing. Anyway we found Giles and figured out that this guy, Ethan, is where all of this originated from. It's only the people that got their costumes from there that changed. Giles and Willow went there to stop the spell. Did you know Giles knows this Ethan guy?_

"Ethan?" asked Xander.

_Yeah, Ethan Rayne. He's a chaos sorcerer, whatever that means. Giles knew him when they were younger._

"Why aren't you with them?"

_Uh, we were attacked by Alucard on the way there._

"Hellsing or Castlevania?"

_Hellsing._

"I'm assuming you won?"

_Yeah, but it wasn't easy. Especially since I was only trying to knock him out and not kill him. Uh, Buffy, uh, she ran off while I was fighting him._

"What! You have to find her!"

_Angel and I are trying to track her down .Don't worry. I swore to protect her- oh, there she is! _

The window to the outside world opened once more. They watched as Ichigo backhanded a pirate and knocked him out.

"Hey, that was Larry!"

_Who's Larry? It felt really good to knock him out. Kinda like Keigo, except I wanted to hurt this guy more._

"He's a bully and a jerk." A memory played in their minds of Larry bullying Xander earlier in the day.

_Okay._

They watched Ichigo kick Larry again for good measure.

_Prick._

**(]ooo((=============**

Ichigo scowled. While this was a very common circumstance the twitch in his eye was not. They were being forced to run from a blonde vampire that Xander told him was called Spike. While Ichigo would have had no problem facing off against the vampire, even with his current stunted abilities, Spike was very effectively and very wisely using people turned into their costumes as a shield.

"Me am your friend! No beat you until you live!" There was also the deranged Superman clone to contend with.

_Hey, Xander! How the hell do I beat this guy?_

_Uh, you beat him, literally, I think. We don't have any blue kryptonite handy, either._

_Superman's powers?_

_Yeah, except he'll have freeze vision, flame breath, and vacuum breath. He's not smart but he'll be superfast and superstrong._

Elizabeth and Angel ran into the nearby warehouse, barricading the door as best they could. Ichigo planted himself in front of the door, forcing the other demons to wait out his confrontation with Bizarro. Bizarro himself charged at him at supersonic speeds. Ichigo blocked the attack with his sword and had to use his reiatsu to keep himself in place.

_You weren't kidding about the speed and strength!_

_Can you cut him?_

_Of course we can. Ichigo, let us finish this in one blow!_

_Let's go, Tensa Zangetsu!_

One Bizarro's next pass, Ichigo dodged to the side and brought his sword down with a yell. A large gash opened up in Bizarro's side as blue blood sprayed from the wound.

"Argh! You no hurt Bizarro! You am good friend! Bizarro no make you bleed!"Bizarro took a breath before expelling a huge gout of flame.

"Getsuga Tensho!" The blast of black energy overtook Bizarro's attack and sent the twisted copy of Superman flying off into the distance. Ichigo smirked for a moment as he watched Bizarro be carried away. His smile was wiped from his face when a goblin jumped and his head and tried to scratch at his eyes. "Oi! Watashi kara anata sukoshi oni o oriru!" Something bit at his ankle and Ichigo stumbled to the side before grabbing the goblin off of his shoulders and slamming it into the dog thing that bit his leg.

The sound of rushing air filled Ichigo's ears as he felt pain against his stomach. Something had tackled him and was carrying him up into the air. "Bizarro no am number one!" Well crap. Ichigo turned his sword in his hand in order to stab it into Bizarro when Bizarro's eyes began to glow blue.

_Ice vision! Block his eyes!_

Ichigo covered Bizarro's eyes with his left hand. His hand felt colder than it ever had, even during the harshest winters in Karakura. Ice began to form over his hand. Ichigo flared his reiatsu, but it only slowed the progress of the growing ice.

_Finish him Ichigo! Stab me down!_

Ichigo plunged his sword into Bizarro's back. Immediately Bizarro stopped flying as it arched its back in pain. The stop was so abrupt Ichigo nearly dislocated his shoulder holding onto his sword. This only served to carve Tensa Zangetsu further up Bizarro's body. Ichigo floated up above Bizarro and pulled out his sword. Bizarro plunged down into the earth.

_I hope he's still alive when he changes back._

_Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine, I think._

_Agreed. His fate is not in our hands any longer. However, we must return to Buffy._

_Right._

Ichigo turned and burst into motion, quickly landing back in front of the warehouse Elizabeth and Angel ran into. Luckily, Bizarro had shot away in a straight line. Unluckily, they had gone far enough away that when Ichigo returned, Spike was mere moments away from draining Elizabeth. He charged without thinking and brought Tensa Zangetsu down on Spike's head.

The plastic sword he was once again wielding shattered against Spike's head.

"Ow! I bloody well told you to restrain the poof!" he screamed only to discover that it wasn't Angel he was facing off against but the samurai. Only the samurai was now staring at his broken sword in confusion. Spike looked around at his new minions and saw that they were all children once again. "Oh, hell!" he muttered to himself as he slowly turned around. Buffy straightened from her cowering position and pulled the wig off her head.

"Honey, I'm home!"


	3. Lord of the Four Quarters

**Chapter 3 – Ruler of the Four Quarters**

With a great deal of self-control, Xander resisted the urge to tear his room apart in frustration. Despite all the different techniques he had tried, he still couldn't tap into his spiritual energy. He could feel it within himself, like a current just under his skin, but beyond sensing it he couldn't interact with it at all!

It had been several days since he had dressed up as Ichigo. He had spent all the free time he had since attempting to access his shinigami powers. Ever since that night he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was different. Ichigo's ludicrous reiatsu had turned Xander into a similar existence to Ichigo. He knew if he could just draw the power out he would-

Wait, had he really only been trying to draw the power out? Why hadn't he ever tried to draw himself in? To enter his inner world? After all, his zanpakuto would know how to be used.

Xander chided himself for being narrow-minded as he crossed his legs and plopped down onto the floor of his room. Pressing his fists together in front of his diaphragm, Xander began to take slow deep breaths. With each exhalation he cleared his mind a little more. This time, instead of concentrating on drawing his power out of his body, he concentrated on falling deeper and deeper into himself. As he concentrated on entering the core of his self, he felt a pull, a sinking feeling, as he allowed himself to be drawn in more and more, until he felt like he was falling.

He landed on the ground with a thud. "Ow," he said reflexively as he rolled off his slightly sore butt. "What the hell?" Xander scrambled to his feet. With a start he realized he was in a familiar grass field. The sky was dark, with rays of light indicating either sunrise or sunset. There was a thick fog in the air that obscured his surroundings. Fortunately he could see the silhouette of a castle in the distance.

Seeing nowhere else to go, Xander began to hike his way through the fog. Each step he took closer to the castle seemed to clear the fog a little as the sky grew brighter. Finally Xander found himself at a bank of a wide moat. The sun was now high in the sky and he could clearly see the huge white stone wall of the castle.

Directly across from him was a large metal drawbridge emblazoned with a downward pointed sword set under a three pronged crown. Xander scratched his head as he tried to figure out a way across. There wasn't anyone on the parapets of the castle as far as he could see. He was about to call out anyway when the drawbridge began lowering with a loud series of clanks. Xander hastily stepped back as the drawbridge settled onto the bank with a reverberating thud. Once again Xander scanned the castle but found no sign of anyone else.

"Weird," muttered Xander. He shrugged and strode across the drawbridge, his footsteps echoing with a muffled metallic ring. The gate hidden behind the drawbridge was closed on the other end by a large set of double doors. The doors were metal and engraved with the same sword and crown design as the drawbridge.

As Xander stepped up to the doors they opened of their own accord.

Xander paused a moment, eyeballing the doors warily, before he stepped through the gate into a market. To his left and right Xander could see empty stalls and dilapidated storehouses and shops lining an inner wall. The storehouses lined the inner wall as far as he could see. The outer wall was empty save for stairs and what appeared to be guardhouses set at even intervals from each other. Xander realized that he was in the outermost ring of a square castle.

The emptiness of the market made Xander feel uneasy.

Directly across from Xander lay another gate. He quickly jogged toward it in order to escape the eerie scene. This gate also opened at his approach. Once again, Xander saw no sign of anyone else. Xander barely paid attention to what looked like an empty residential district as he made for another gate.

Why was the sight of an empty inner world unnerving him? No one else's inner world had ever had more than two people in it. Well, except for Ichigo's hollow. But considering that the hollow and Zangetsu had been one all along, did that really count as an exception?

The third ring was an odd collection of long squat buildings and open fields filled with odd-looking squat structures and what looked like training equipment. Some of the fields were fenced in, other's were not. There was a sense of wrongness pervading the utter stillness and quiet of the place. Xander eyed the area around him warily. He had been attacked the last time he was in his inner world, after all, but now he felt no trace of the power that had filled him the last time he was here.

The gate in front of him opened and let him out into a living tunnel. On either side of him were trees growing so close together they formed a wall. The branches of the trees were interlocked so tightly over his head that he couldn't see the sky. If it wasn't for the sunlight from the end of the tunnel, and what little came down through the branches, he wouldn't have been able to see. With no other choice Xander continued moving forward.

As he stepped beyond the trees Xander froze in place. Spread out in front of him was a beautiful park. Large lawns of lush green grass were broken up by a crisscrossing set of paths. The paths were lined on each side by flowerbeds filled with flowers in a riotous array of colors. An occasional solitary oak dotted the lawns. However, Xander barely noticed the park in front of him He was completely captivated by the incredibly massive gleaming white tower in the center of the park. Xander's jaw dropped when a passing cloud was parted by the tower.

Once he recovered from his shock Xander followed the path in front of him to a speck on the base of the tower. Once he reached the tower he was able to see that the speck as in fact a massive metal gate, ten feet tall by twenty feet wide, set recessed in the tower. Three crowns in a row were engraved on the gate. As he stepped closer the gate slowly rose up with a grinding sound.

As he stepped forward Xander noted a thin channel running the length of the opening. Looking up, Xander blanched when he saw the foot-deep blade set on the bottom of the gate, matching the channel below. He paused at the edge before quickly dashing under the gate. Sliding to a stop he turned and observed the door. When nothing happened Xander relaxed and turned around to head deeper into the tower.

He took one step into the tunnel that lay on the other side of the gate when the massive slab came crashing down behind him, plunging him into darkness.

"I knew this something was up!" cursed Xander as he spun back toward the gate. Hands out to keep himself from smashing into it, Xander reached the gate after several steps. Feeling along its completely smooth surface, Xander found no mechanism for opening the door on the gate nor on the walls immediately next to it. He tried pushing up on the gate. He quickly gave it up as an exercise in futility. Xander slammed his fist into the gate in frustration. The gate gave out a long metal ring. Xander stepped back and gave the gate his fiercest glare when he realized he could actually see the gate.

Spinning around, Xander saw that light was entering the tunnel from the far end. He took a lost look around but the bare walls and ceilings left him no clues. With no other alternatives Xander began the long walk into the light.

He chuckled to himself at the obvious jokes that came to mind.

Once his eyes adjusted, Xander realized the tunnel led to a grand hall that once again left Xander in awe.

The floor and ceiling were lined with veins of crystal that glowed softly with flowing light. He could actually see slightly brighter pulses of light flowing through the river of light trapped in the crystal. He followed on vein on the ceiling that went to his left and flowed into a stained glass window.

Giving it a closer look, Xander realized that the square frame held a large inset slab of the same crystal that was in the floor and ceiling. The inset crystal was not clear, like the rest, but colored and clearly depicted a scene of a hand holding out a yellow crayon to a little red haired girl.

"Willow," breathed out Xander in shock. His head snapped to the right so fast he inadvertently cracked his neck. He didn't even wince as he stared at the image to his right. This inset showed a skinny brown haired boy cradling a basketball in his arms. "Jesse," came the name of his deceased best friend. Xander tore his eyes away from the image, preventing himself from bursting into tears.

The large hall extended a very long distance and Xander could see other insets lining the walls on either side. There was a slightly raised dais at the end of the hall surrounded around the back by a mesh fence that formed a pointed arch.

Continuing onward, marching past a portrait of Cordelia smiling proudly with a tinfoil badge pinned to her chest and standing next to a bowlegged man in a cowboy hat with antlers on his belt. Past a scene of Jesse grinning at him as while handing him a manga. Past a scene with Willow happily holding a photo print-out of the three of them, while Jesse stood behind her smiling and pointing at a photo print-out in his hand showing the three of them making funny faces.

There was one scene, however, that stopped Xander in his tracks. This inset shone differently from the rest. The light here was harsh and very bright. Xander raised his hand to block the glare as he stopped forward to get a clearer look. He realized he had mimicked the hand in the scene before him, raised defensively against his father's fist.

For a long time, Xander could do nothing but stare, his hand still up shield himself from the harsh light. Then Xander glared at the image, the muscle in his jaw jumping as he grit his teeth. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relaxing himself. At the same time the light from the inset diminished. He didn't notice it as he opened his eyes again. He stared at the face of his father. He realized that he no longer felt fear. He looked at his father and realized how a pathetic a creature the man truly was. He had cast off all duties of fatherhood and manhood, every source of pride he had, for what? A few moments of chemically induced numbness? A fleeting feeling of superiority as he bullied those he was meant to cherish and protect?

The light from the crystal painting dimmed until it was duller than the other images, diluted in a way. Xander turned and walked away, dismissing the scene entirely, breaking any hold his father had over him.

He passed several scenes but didn't stop, even moving past a scene showing a gorgeous girl with golden hair, until he reached the next image. His eyes immediately darted to the hand in the scene, his hand, holding a broken pool cue. It was piercing the chest of his best friend. The guilty look on his face transformed into shock as his eyes finally trailed over the face of his friend. Instead of the vampire's visage he had expected Jesse was wearing his normal face. But his surprised stemmed from the lack of surprise and pain on Jesse's face. Jesse was clearly smiling in relief.

Xander broke down in tears. His wails echoing throughout the hall as his entire body heaved with the strength of his sobs. For over a year he had carried the guilt of killing his best friend. He had constantly blamed himself without ever realizing the truth. He had not killed Jesse. He had set him free.

His puffy eyes cracked open as the last of his tears fell away. The cool stone was a balm for the heat of his face. Xander lay there and basked in the feeling, ignoring the fact that he was sprawled out on the floor. Once his face felt normal again he picked himself up, dusting off his t-shirt and jeans. The sunlight flowing through the veins of crystal began to glow brighter as he stood. He threw the image of his late best friend a fierce grin before suddenly sprinting down the hall. He leapt up the seven steps of the raised dais and stood in the center, turning to face the rest of the hall, his arms crossed. He didn't flinch as three other mesh arches rose from the edge of the dais and enclosed him. He didn't flinch was the dais rose from the ground and rocketed upward.

He seemed to travel through darkness. The platform came to an abrupt stop next to a circular platform hanging in nothingness. A single spiraling set of stairs, set into the center of the floating platform rose high up into a square of light. As soon as the four mesh arches retracted Xander hopped off the dais and rushed up the stairs. He stepped through the square of light and emerged into the center of a room with no walls. He looked up as he walked further into the room. The ceiling hanging above him was emblazoned with the word and crown motif he had seen elsewhere. The ceiling was painted a deep royal blue, while the crest was inlaid with gold.

The scraping of stone against stone made him spin around to catch sight of the trapdoor he had stepped through closing. He barely noticed this as most of his attention was on the man standing across from him.

The man was tall with a ramrod straight posture. He had shoulder length brown hair and a closely trimmed beard. His eyes were blue and peered at him from under a strong brow. On his head was set a five point silver crown. It had two small points in the back, two larger ones on the side and the largest in the front. He was wearing a solid silver breastplate emblazoned with three crowns across his chest. His arms were covered by royal blue sleeves that were tucked into silver gauntlets. A blue cape was draped over his shoulders. His breastplate covered his entire torso, from his neck to his waist. From the bottom edge of his breastplate emerged the tails of his tunic. He had a fitted pair of blue pants with embroidered silver Celtic knot work running along the outer seam. Silver greaves covered his feet and his lower leg up to his knee.

The man looked every part the warrior king as he stood across from Xander, feet set shoulder width apart and hands fisted on his hips. Xander froze as he caught sight of the man's weapon. His heartbeat sped up frantically and his eyes widened so much his irises were surrounded in white.

There, hanging from the king's left hip, was a sword. No, that did not do it justice. It was a _magnificent_ sword. It was _the_ sword.

Xander realized that wasn't the truth of it. The simple fact of the matter was that the sword was nothing less than _his_ sword.

"You have come at last, Alexander." The man's voice was deep and rich, powerful and commanding. It was the voice of a king.

"Uh, yeah, sorry," muttered Xander distractedly. "I had to walk here." He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from his sword.

"My eyes are up here, Alexander," said the man in a voice full of mirth. Xander's eyes finally snapped up to the man's face at his teasing tone.

"Sorry, it's just," Xander trailed off, unsure of what he should say.

"You have had an eventful week," finished the king with a soft smile, "I know." Xander grinned sheepishly and began to fidget.

"So, uh, how," Xander cleared his throat nervously, "how much are you aware of?"

"I am the result of a fictional character made manifest in you through magic. I also know about a little girl holding a yellow crayon, a brilliant blonde beauty, and a broken pool cue. I know you, Alexander. Perhaps even better than you know yourself."

"Xander began to curl in on himself. "I guess you know everything, huh?"

"Don't," commanded the king as he frowned at Xander. "Do not hide behind your doubts and insecurities. Do not hide behind this foolish mask you have crafted. It is beneath you, Alexander." Xander stared nonplussed at the king for a moment. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, straightening as he released it. When he opened his eyes again the king nodded in approval.

"I've done things I'm not proud of," said Xander softly even as he levelly met the king's gaze.

"Everyone has. Do not wallow in shame. Take heart and improve yourself, that your mistakes may never be repeated. On the other hand, you should take pride in the noble acts you have done, Alexander. It is only right." Xander nodded. "As you no doubt have realized, I am your soul sword. I am the power that awoken in you by Tensa Zangetsu and Ichigo's spiritual energy," said the king as he strode up to Xander. "My name is-"

"Excalibur."

The king stumbled briefly in shock. "What is this? Even the most gifted did not hear the name of their soul sword when it was first spoken, much less know it beforehand!"

"Your crest and the medieval motif kind of gave you away," said Xander with a small smirk. His look turned solemn. "And in any case, what other name would my sword have?"

Excalibur chuckled as he stood in front of Xander. "I see. Unfortunately the ease with which you learned my name is tempered by your inability to express your spiritual pressure properly. As Tensa Zangetsu said, there is some element of this world that suppresses your abilities. But together," he intoned as he unbuckled the sword at his side, "we will find a way through." He held the sword out, handle first, toward Xander. "Alexander, you are my wielder. I am your sword. Take this blade, the expression of the power of your soul, and become who you were meant to be."

Slowly, knowing that from this moment there would be no going back to who he was before, Xander reached out and firmly grasped the hilt of his sword.

Unexpectedly, Excalibur dropped to one knee, placing his right fist over his heart as he held onto the sword by the scabbard. "My liege," he intoned, even as his own crown disappeared. Before he could express his surprise Excalibur whipped the scabbard off his sword.

Xander stumbled back, his sword falling from his hand as he raised his arm to protect his eyes from the blinding flash of white light. He fell back as his knees hit his bed. He flopped down with a grunt. He lay back on his bed as he tried to process-

Scrambling to his feet Xander confirmed that yes, there was a sword on the floor of his room. Xander reached down and reverently lifted the blade.

"This is my sword," murmured Xander as he gazed in awe at the masterwork in his hands. He gripped it and swung it casually through the air. The sword gave out a long rining note as he swung. Truly, this was the sword of a king.

_Alexander_, came the voice of Excalibur in his head.

_Yes?_ He replied tentatively.

_Try to send the sword back._ Though he was loath to part with it, Xander did as he was asked. He concentrated on the connection between him and the sword and willed it to dissipate, to retreat back within him. The sword vanished after a minute or so of concentration. _Good, now call it back._

An hour later a sweating and panting Xander held Excalibur in his hands once more. "Okay," he said between pants, "I need more practice."

_Indeed. You must have noticed the difficulty in manifesting me. Creation is always harder than destruction. Now that you can draw your power out you must work on exerting it on the world around you. The first step will be to master summoning me. You should hardly need a thought in order to do so._

"Oh boy," drawled Xander as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

_Come, come now, Alexander. This is but the first step in your journey._

"At the end of which I'll be a shinigami."

_No. At the end of which you will be the King._

**(]ooo((=============**

Xander spent the next two weeks feeling exhausted all the time. Slowly, literally painfully so, Xander managed to master manifesting his sword. Now it took less than a second to summon Excalibur, and he could perform another action as he did so. What kept him feeling exhausted was attempting to do anything with his spiritual pressure when he wasn't wielding his sword. Nothing he tried succeeded and Xander eventually gave it up as the focus of his training. He would master his skills while wielding his sword and see if the memory of using his skills helped in making them succeed when he was without his blade.

With his sword, Xander found himself able to reinforce his physical capabilities, utilizing strength and speed on par with what he had seen Buffy use. His first attempts, however, had resulted in bruising and pains throughout his body. He injured several muscles as well and discovered his increased spiritual energy helped him heal faster. He suspected he had also cracked some bones during his practice if the lingering bone deep pains he had occasionally were any indication.

Even his slumber provided little respite. Though it gave his physical body time to recover, Excalibur kept pulling him into his inner world. Every night he spent sparring, training his mind in the techniques he would put into practice during his waking hours. Sometimes Excalibur would pull things from Xander's imagination in order to provide a different opponent to test his capabilities against. Sometimes he fought other swordsmen, like Himura Kenshin or Kibagami Jubei. Sometimes he fought monsters like mountain trolls or lycans. Sometimes he fought superhumans like Spider-man and He-man. But mostly they fought each other as Excalibur tried to reinforce all the memories of battle that Ichigo and Zangetsu had left behind.

Excalibur pushed Xander to stop slacking in school while also making him study everything about swordfighting Xander could get his hands on. There were no schools or dojos that Xander could go to in order to learn swordfighting, though he did end up joining a jiujitsu school.

Constant nightly training and the lingering traces of his Halloween possession helped Xander pick his skills up in a very short period of time. It often felt to Xander as if he was remembering something he had once forgotten instead of learning a new skill.

Unfortunately his new fuller schedule limited the time he could help with the slaying. Something he regretted after the betrayal of Buffy's friend and the mess with the demon from Giles' past. After Buffy was attacked by the Order of Teraka Xander decided that he had trained enough and it was time to stop hiding his abilities and help Buffy as much as he could.

Which is how he found himself searching Buffy's house with Cordelia. Giving the empty second floor a quick look, Xander came back downstairs to find Cordelia in the living room with a short man in a sack suit.

"What's this?" Xander asked Cordelia as he eyed the meek looking, glasses wearing guy holding a large suitcase.

"Um, he's a make-up salesman and he was just leaving, right?" replied Cordelia without looking away from the salesman. The salesman stared emotionlessly at the both of them. "Okay then! Buh-bye! Thank you!" said Cordelia leadingly.

When the salesmen made no move to leave Xander decided that a more blatant hint was needed as he grabbed the guy by the shoulder. "Okay, Mary Kay, time to.." Xander trailed off as a meal worm crawled along the man's cheek and into his ear.

"Teraka," muttered Xander as he backed away. The slight widening of the man's eyes was all the confirmation he needed. "Cordelia, get out of the house," he commanded.

Cordelia was moving before she fully registered his words. "Okay, bye Norman!"

"Yes," said Xander as he focused inward. He stepped forward and swung his hand toward Norman's neck, "Goodbye Norman." The assassin merely raised a brow at the attack since Xander was going to miss by a good foot and a half. The slight furrowing of Xander's eyebrows was all the warning Norman received as Excalibur appeared in Xander's hand and cut Norman's head off. Xander glanced briefly at Cordelia as she screamed from near the front door.

It was then Xander's turn to be surpirsed as he watched Norman catch his own head and place it back atop his neck. Xander glanced at his sword, still held out from his follow through. There was no sign of blood on the blade.

Then Norman turned into a giant pile of worms. Cordelia screamed even louder this time.

"You think to defeat me with worms?" snarled Xander as he let loose the full force of his spiritual pressure. The entire writhing pile of worms stilled. Then several worms burst from the intensity of Xander's reiatsu. Norman quickly reconstituted himself, grimacing in pain as he did so. A loud crash alerted Xander to Cordelia's collapse. Damn, she was caught in his reiatsu as well. Xander quickly stopped exerting his pressure. Norman wasted little time in taking advantage of the reprieve and quickly ran out the front door as Xander ran over to help Cordelia.

"What the hell was that?" asked Cordelia shakily as she stared wide-eyed at Xander. He grimaced. He wasn't expecting her to be the first to find out. "And what happened to that sword?" she asked as she finally recovered her footing.

"That was my zanpakuto," murmured Xander.

"What? How do you-" Cordelia stopped and stared at him. "Ichigo," she whispered.

"Yeah, he left some stuff behind. Come on, we need to get back and let Buffy know her house isn't safe," said as he guided Cordelia out the door after he watched Norman speed away in an old Cadillac.

"You- I felt like I was being crushed from the inside," said Cordelia as she moved on shaky legs toward her car. "How strong are you?"

"Don't know." Cordelia turned a sour look on him which made him frown in response. "Zangetsu gave me shinigami powers. And considering the shinigami I was modeled after was Ichigo I could be ridiculously strong. Or I could now have my own level of power not that I'm a pureblood shinigami." Xander looked Cordelia over as he strapped on his seatbelt. She seemed to have recovered enough from earlier. She should be safe to drive.

"That's insane," mumbled Cordelia s she started her car. "So you can fly and stuff?" asked Cordelia brightly.

"Still working on it."

Cordelia sighed. "Guess it was too much to hope that you would completely stop being lame."

"Just drive to school woman," ordered Xander tersely.


	4. You're a what now?

**Chapter 4 – You're a what now?**

"Alright, listen up and answer when I call your name," called the female police officer. Buffy tried not to look too bored as she jumped through the latest of Snyder's hoops. She waved halfheartedly at Xander, who waved back exuberantly with both hands. She smiled. He was such a goof. "Buffy Summers."

"Here," called Buffy, honestly not expecting to be first on the roster. Wasn't it in alphabetical order? She shrugged the though off as Buffy stepped up to the officer, whose nametag said she was named Patrice, as Patrice set her clipboard down. Buffy only had a moment to be surprised as Patrice drew her gun before her slayer instincts kicked in. She jumped forward and she pushed the gun up to the ceiling. The sound of the gun firing was loud in her ears. Buffy had another flash of surprise as she realized that Patrice was matching her slayer strength. No fair! first that Cyclops, then Kendra, now this police woman was as strong as her. Where they handing out superpowers when she wasn't looking?

The gun fired again, at a much lower angle than before. Buffy took solace in the sound of crumbling cement that followed the shot. Still, this couldn't continue like this or someone could get hurt. Buffy kneed the police officer and pushed her down, the gun flying off into the rioting crowd. Buffy turned and jumped onto a table, pulling down with herself to use as cover, when she saw Patrice pull out a back-up gun from an ankle holster.

Instead of another gunshot there was a scream. Buffy peeked over the table and felt her jaw drop. Patrice was cradling the stump where her hand used to be. The hand, still holding the gun, was flying off to the left. Xander was standing over Patrice still recovering from his upward swing. In his hand was the most beautiful sword Buffy had ever seen. She ignored everything else, even the spray of orange blood from Patrice's amputation and Xander's follow-up backswing beheading the fake police officer. She stared at the sword, completely entranced, until it disappeared. She blinked as she came out of her trance and rose to meet Xander as he walked up to her.

"Wha-wha-wha-" Buffy shook her head, "What the hell was that!?" she asked in whispered shriek.

"Not now," said Xander as he clasped her bicep and began to lead her away.

"What do you mean-" began Buffy rapidly before Xander cut her off.

"Not. Now," commanded Xander. "Let's go to the library first." Buffy's mouth closed with a click and she followed him, even as she shot him a look that promised that she was getting answers as soon as possible.

"Why does she have orange blood?" asked Oz as he helped Willow to her feet from where he had tackled her out of the line of fire.

"Uh, that's not orange," denied Willow quickly as she scrambled for an excuse, "it's just a trick of the light."

"Um, yeah, that blood is, like, really orange."

"No! It's just-"

"Vampires and demons and other supernatural stuff is real," interrupted Xander. Willow smiled and nodded happily until she realized that Xander had not provided her with an excuse. She turned a betrayed look on him.

"Ha ha," fake laughed Willow, "He's kidding, that's totally crazy!"

"Actually it explains a lot," replied Oz calmly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess it does," agreed Willow sheepishly. Xander looked between his best friend and the guy he was sure had just put himself between Willow and a bullet. He only knew him in passing but his actions were enough for Xander to ruthlessly squash the strange proprietary feeling that bubbled within him. He came to a decision.

"Willow, we need to go to the library. You should come too," he told Oz, "if you want to learn more."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," agreed Oz amiably.

A pretty black girl Xander had never seen before ran up to them. "What is happening here? I heard gunshots?" she asked in a brisk tone. Xander quirked an eyebrow at her heavy Jamaican accent.

"It's over now, slowpoke," said Buffy as she brushed passed the girl. Xander wondered about Buffy's sudden aggressiveness even as he hustled Willow and Oz toward the library. They were soon joined by Miss Calendar.

"What happened? I heard gunshots."

"It's over, explanations in the library," replied Xander as he tilted his head in the library's direction. Miss Calendar accepted the excuse with a nod and joined the group. Inside the library they found Giles brandishing a crossbow at the door. Cordelia was standing behind the service counter also pointing a crossbow at them. Xander stopped and raised his hands in surrender. "We come in peace!"

"Is everyone alright? What happened?" asked Giles as he relaxed.

"We had an attack by the order of Teraka. This one tried to shoot Buffy. It's dead," summarized Xander.

"And the one from Buffy's home escaped?" asked Giles.

"What do you mean my home?" asked a startled Buffy angrily.

"Someone had your house staked out. They pretended to be a salesman to get into your place when Cordelia and I were trying to find you earlier."

"These guys are popping up everywhere!" cried Buffy as she threw her hands up in the air. She then whirled on Xander angrily. "And you! What the hell is up with that sword!?"

"What sword?" asked Giles as he looked over the seemingly unarmed Xander.

"The sword he made disappear," snapped Buffy.

"Oh yeah, that was kind of cool," remarked Oz.

"That's right, where did you put it?" asked Willow as she grabbed one of his hands and looked into the sleeve of his long-sleeved black shirt.

"A sword?" asked a confused Miss Calendar as she struggled to follow the conversation. Since when were assassins after Buffy?

"Oh, you mean his zanpakuto!" Cordelia's words rendered the rest of the room silent.

Buffy pointed a finger at Cordelia as she glared at Xander. "She knows?" she asked accusingly.

"She saw me use it against the other Terakan, alright?" said Xander as he leaned back from Buffy, his hands held up in surrender.

"What is a zan-pa-ku-do?" asked Kendra slowly as she struggled with the foreign word.

"Yeah, what she said," added Oz with a finger pointed at Kendra.

"I thought the possession ended!" yelled a worried Willow.

"Wait, wait, wait, you have a shinigami sword?" asked Miss Calendar as she tried to assert some control on the meandering conversation.

"What's the meaning of this?" asked Giles sharply as he frowned at Xander.

"Spill it mister," said Buffy threateningly as she shook her finger in Xander's face.

"If you'll let me explain," said Xander loudly as he gently pushed Buffy's finger away from his face, "I can answer all your questions. But we should take a seat, this could take a while."

"No! Splainy! Now!"

"Humor me, Buffy," sighed Xander in frustration, "please." Eventually the group settled into the chairs around the main research table in the library. Xander stood at one end of the table, Buffy and Willow to his right and left. Next to Willow sat Oz with Cordelia on his other side. Next to Buffy was Giles and then Miss Calendar. Kendra had taken the seat directly opposite him. "Okay, for those that don't know: on Halloween a chaos mage petitioned Janus to turn people into their costumes. I went dressed as Kurosaki Ichigo."

Giles, Kendra and Oz looked at him in confusion. Strangely enough, it was Miss Calendar who had the strongest reaction. "What!?" she exploded in shock as she half rose from her seat, "What was your costume?"

"Uh, I already said-"

"Shikai or Bankai?"

Xander stared at the teacher for a long moment as her question registered. "Bankai," he answered slowly.

"Before or after his training in the Dangai world?"

"Before, except the Ichigo I was possessed by was from after."

Miss Calendar frowned, before her face cleared in realization. "Oh, that's right, that issue hadn't been released over here yet."

"You, you understand what he's talking about?" asked Giles incredulously. Miss Calendar nodded. "Excellent, now someone who can speak proper English can explain things. But firstly, I recall _you_," he pinned Xander with a glare, "telling us that nothing remained of your possession except some language skills. You lied to us."

"Uh, not exactly," said Xander delicately.

"Explain. Now," ordered Giles.

"On Halloween, while Ichigo was in control of my body, I had a talk with Zangetsu."

"Who is Zangetsu?" asked Giles.

"Ooh, I know," exclaimed Cordelia, "He's Ichigo's zanpakuto!"

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"A zanpakuto, which is Japanese for soul cutter sword, it the primary weapon of a shinigami, which in this instance best translates as soul reaper. A soul reaper's job is to guide wayward souls to the afterlife as well as protect humans from spiritual threats," explained Miss Calendar. She noticed that Willow and Buffy where staring at her in shock, while Oz and Giles were nodding as they took her explanation in. She glanced at Buffy and Willow in turn. "What? I like the show."

"How did you come to have this weapon?" Giles asked Xander. "Also, how does one have a conversation with a sword?"

"When I was possessed by Ichigo, his immense spiritual energy altered my soul in order to be able to contain all his power. Otherwise I would have gone off like a nuke and destroyed all of Sunnydale. As a result of that, my body was changed at a metaphysical level into one that was capable of having shinigami powers," Xander paused and frowned. "At least, that's what I think happened. In any case, Zangetsu, being a conscious spirit that was the metaphysical representation of Ichigo's power with the physical form of a sword, put me through a test that awoke my own spiritual power, which was separate from Ichigo's. We weren't sure if the change would stick once the possession ended," Xander looked off into the distance as he remembered those frustrating days after the possession. "For a while there I thought it hadn't."

"I'm still not sure I understand," said Giles slowly as he digested Xander's speech.

"I think I do," said Miss Calendar. Giles turned his attention hopefully to her. "During Halloween, everyone was possessed by the spirit of whatever they dressed as. Most physically changed into whatever they dressed as. But Xander had a soul inserted into his body with power inherent to the new soul. Whatever Zangetsu did changed something about the makeup of Xander's own soul. When the spell was broken it removed the foreign spirit and reset the physical changes. But since the spell didn't alter Xander's soul it didn't do anything on the spiritual end besides return control of his body to him."

"So," began Giles, "you are now one of these, uh..."

"Shinigami," supplied Miss Calendar.

"Yes, shinigami, thank you."

"That's the gist of it. The last two weeks I've been trying to train my new powers. So far all I can really do is manifest my sword."

"Can, can I see?" asked Willow shyly. Xander smiled at his best friend before raising his right hand. There was no flash of light, no burst of force, not even the displacement of air as his zanpakuto appeared. It was as if the sword had always been in his hand.

"This," said Xander as he gazed affectionately at his sword, "this is my soul."

In Xander's hand was a long sword. It had a three and a half foot blade and a foot long handle. The pommel was a flattened half circle decorated on each side with Celtic knot work. The handle was wrapped diagonally with glossy black leather. The cross guard was a gently sweeping upward curve with 'Protectorem' engraved on it. The blade was subtly curved in a leaf shape that ended in a blocky triangular point. The triangular fuller had 'Amddiffyn' and 'Chosaint' etched down its length.

To Giles' trained eye the blade looked like someone had combined Saxon, Scottish, Irish, Norman, Danish, and Welsh sword-making techniques and produced Xander's sword from the mix. Despite the eclectic nature, or perhaps because of it, the sword felt like nothing less than a quintessentially British blade. The sword was flawless, perfect even beyond any of the masterworks Giles had ever seen. Simply gazing at the blade evoked a feeling of warmth and comfort in him.

Then Xander swung the sword. A long ringing note sounded as the blade cut through the air.

"Oh my god," breathed Buffy in awe, "is it singing?"

Everyone turned to look at Buffy in confusion except for Kendra, who had the same awed look on her face and Xander who was staring at Buffy in shock.

What did it mean that she could hear the voice of his zanpakuto?

_Let her hold me._

Xander's eyes snapped to his sword. He swallowed nervously as he spun his sword and offered it handle first to Buffy. Her eyes widened and she pushed her chair back, waving her hands in front of herself in order to ward off his offer.

"No, Xander, I can't! This is, this is..." she trailed off, unable to find the words.

"Go ahead," whispered Xander gently. Buffy hesitated as she reached out. She tried again and this time grasped the sword.

It was heavy. It was heavier even than the claymore Xander had made her try once. But the balance was perfect! And it fit perfectly into her hands! She suspected it was the same for Xander, despite how that should have been impossible. Holding the sword in both hands she felt herself filled with confidence and determination.

This was Xander's soul.

Some compulsion or desire made her stand up and step aside. With a clear space around herself she swung the sword with the inherited confidence of thousands of years of combat. The sword _was_ singing.

_Stand up! Be strong! Always strive toward victory! Never retreat or surrender! Have courage! Protect!_

Buffy gasped as the song filled her mind with light. The sword fell from nerveless fingers. The sword dematerialized before it hit the ground.

"What's wrong?" "What hapened?" "Are you okay?" "Way to spaz out!"

Catching her breath while the others stopped trying to talk over each other, Buffy could only stare at Xander. At goofy, easy-going, funny Xander. How had she never seen this before? Did she know him? Did she have any idea who Xander really was?

"Are you okay Buffy?" Xander worriedly asked her.

"It, uh," said Buffy. She swallowed nervously. "It, uh, talked to me."

"Talked to you?" asked Giles as he took in Buffy's reaction.

"As I understood it, Zanpakutos are formed from their wielder's soul," explained Miss Calendar. "They aren't a piece or a part of the soul. More like an expression of it. And even though they are not separate, the Zanpakutos have their own consciousness. I'm sure you've heard the expressions the spirit of the blade and the sword is the soul of the samurai?"  
Giles nodded. "Both of them are literally true in this case."

"Fascinating," said Giles. He cast one last worried glance at Buffy as she sat back down and seemed to collect herself. "How do you make it appear?" he asked Xander. "Is it a conjuration of some sort?"

"Conjuration?" asked Xander as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"The act of magically creating an object. You can do it in a bunch of ways, from turning raw magical energy into a semblance of matter to rearranging dust in the air. But the key is that you can't make something from nothing."

"Oh. I do the first. Kind of. I think. At least it sounds similar. It should be close-"

"Perhaps it would be better if you just told us what you do?" interrupted Giles.

"Okay," said Xander. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed them as he gathered his thoughts. "What I do is make my spiritual energy take physical form."

"Spiritual energy?" asked Oz, drawn in by this totally awesome conversation.

"The power of my soul."

"Good lord," muttered Giles as he paled.

"Giles?" asked Miss Calendar as she placed a hand on his shoulder in concern.

"You, you, you," Giles shook his head, nearly forcefully divesting himself of his glasses. "You make a part of your soul manifest itself?" he asked incredulously.

Xander was taken aback by his reaction, "Uh, yeah?"

"Good lord," repeated Giles, "one of the divine powers."

"That's right," said Miss Calendar in shock.

"You guys mind filling the rest of us in?" asked an irritated Cordelia.

"Sorry, but, there, there are some that posit that all of creation is in fact a manifestation of the essence of God. To be able to manifest something of your own soul and make it a physical construct is said to be something only God can do."

Xander quickly grew uncomfortable with the awed looks everyone was giving him. Except Cordelia, who was looking contemptuously at him, scoffing at the very idea that anything about Xander could be considered divine. "It's not that special! Any shinigami can do it!"

"It's not that special he says," muttered Giles in disbelief, "as if he hadn't violated several rules of magic and trespassed against orders of reality."

"What about the other abilities Xander?" asked Miss Calendar loudly as she elbowed Giles. He turned a startled look on her. She glared at him and indicated the teenagers in the room with her eyes. Giles looked abashed for a moment as he realized his breakdown would do no one any good. He turned his attention to Xander.

"I can enhance my physical abilities but I haven't figured out how to do shunpo or fly like on the show. In fact, it takes a lot out of me to exert my reiatsu externally. Manifesting my zanpakuto is easier since it's something that comes very naturally to shinigami."

"Reiatsu?" asked Giles.

"Spiritual pressure," explained Miss Calendar. "Can you show us?" she asked Xander eagerly.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Cordelia as she abruptly stood, her char scraping along the floor. "You can wait until I leave to do that! I'm not going through that again! I need to meet with the motivational speaking people anyway," she said as she practically ran out of the room.

"What was that about?" asked Willow.

"I accidentally hit her with my full reiatsu earlier."

Buffy chuckled, "Oh come on, it couldn't be that bad!"

"You hit her?" asked Oz, a fleeting show of concern on his face as he did so. Guys who hit girls were generally not cool.

"Not _hit her_ hit her, more like..."

"He can extend his aura to encompass an area. Anyone within that area will feel his aura as a physical and metaphysical weight. Kind of like when you can feel someone staring at the back or your head, but a hundred times more intense. I've always wondered what it would really feel like," said Miss Calendar excitedly.

"Y'know, I'm really glad you're here to explain all this because I wouldn't have thought up even half of what you said." Xander smiled at Miss Calendar gratefully. She smiled back.

"That is certainly something I would like a demonstration of, if you could?" asked Giles.

Xander glanced around at the eager or curious expressions on everyone's faces. "Alright," he said reluctantly, "but you guys asked for it." He took a deep breath and reached deep within himself. He imagined being in the center of a deep and vast ocean. He pushed outward, willing the energy seep out of his skin.

Oz glanced around curiously at the others, wondering what he could expect from Xander's demonstration. Kendra watched Xander curiously, trying to make sense of everything that had been said and how it matched up with her own studies. Miss Calendar was quite eager to see if the visual effects would be the same as the show. Since Xander had stated that he had so much trouble using his reiatsu she assumed it would just be an uncomfortable feeling and no one would be passing out from the pressure. Giles and Willow were both simply intensely curious and Buffy simply did not believe Xander could be anything but goofy. There was a sliver of doubt in her mind and an inkling that she had experienced the full weight of Xander's personality before but she kept drawing a blank when she tried to remember.

Then Xander opened his eyes.

Willow, Giles, Miss Calendar and Oz immediately collapsed and fell to the floor as they struggled to breathe. Kendra leapt away from the table, plastering herself against the wall that formed part of the upper level. Buffy also stood up and jumped back but she retreated only a few steps.

An instinct was screaming at Buffy to run away from the huge threat in the room. The other part was screaming back that Xander was her friend and wouldn't hurt her. Even if he was now a giant. Buffy blinked as she realized that Xander hadn't changed in size at all. His presence had merely becoming the only thing she could sense.

Kendra didn't know Xander at all and so only had the voice in her head screaming at her to run.

Giles struggled to rise to his knees but felt like he was pinned beneath a mountain.

Oz felt like he was drowning at the bottom of a deep ocean.

Miss Calendar felt like an idiot as she struggled to catch her breath.

Willow began to see stars as her body struggled against shutting down.

Xander let loose a breath and the pressure stopped. He swayed on his feet before leaning against the table to keep himself upright. He was panting and sweating as if he'd just ran a great distance. "Got to be careful with that," muttered Xander as he caught his breath. He then realized that everyone except the two slayers were on the floor. "Oh hell, Buffy help me get them up," he said as he helped Willow back into her chair.

A few minutes later everyone had finally recovered and Xander could ask the one thing that had been bugging him the entire meeting. "Okay, so, who're you?" he asked Kendra.

"My name, is, is, K-kendra, sir," stuttered the suddenly shy and wary Slayer.

"Incredibly enough," added Giles, "she is also a Slayer."

"Huh. Totally wasn't expecting that one." Xander smiled and gave her a little wave. "Nice to meet you. I'm Xander." Kendra blushed and ducked her head even more. Xander paused with his hand in the air. What was up with that reaction?

Oz raised his hand. "What's a slayer?" Everyone else exchanged a series of looks.

"Okay," said Xander with a clap of his hands. "Willow, you fill in Oz. Giles and Miss Calendar will research the order of Teraka and why Spike wants Du Lac's book. Buffy, you, me, swords, spar," he told her with an excited grin. "Oh, you too Kendra, need to see your skills too."

"I can say that she's alright," said Buffy dryly.

Kendra sniffed. "Your technique is sloppy." Buffy glared at her.

"Okay girls," said Xander in a soothing tone, "no fighting unless you're in mud and wearing bikinis."

"What?" asked Kendra blankly.

Buffy scrunched her face up in disgust. "Ugh, Xander!"

Chuckling, Xander said, "Come on, I need to see how badass I am now!"

Buffy and Kendra shared a look and nodded. They would put Xander in his place.

Five minutes later they were both struggling to fight through their shock as everyone else stared in awe as Xander held off both Buffy and Kendra simultaneously.

Until Xander's wooden sword broke trying to block both Slayers attacks at the same time.

"Damn it Giles!" cursed Xander. "You need to get some better practice swords!" Xander then noticed the near identical smirks on both Slayers' faces. Xander clicked his tongue angrily. "_My_ sword wouldn't have broken. I so _totally_ would have taken both of you."

"I do believe you are mistaken," stated Kendra firmly. Buffy narrowed her eyes and marched over to the book cage. She tossed another practice sword at Xander.

"Let's try that agai-" She barely had enough time to throw herself to the side as Xander's slash came down at her.

"En garde!" cried Xander as he chased after her.

"You're supposed to say that before!" complained Buffy as she ran behind Kendra, who moved to meet Xander head on.

Xander slashed horizontally, spinning with his strike. Kendra blocked but Xander used the strike to push himself past Kendra. "You failed your initiative roll!" He continued his spin into a horizontal swipe at Buffy.

Buffy leapt over Xander's slash, performing a cartwheel in midair, before landing on the railing for the upper level of the library. "What!?"

"Children, please!" pleaded Giles. Buffy and Xander laughed as they chased each other up the stairs, Kendra a step behind them. Xander actually ran up the railing, pressing Buffy all the way. Buffy leapt up and landed on top of the book cases. Xander jumped onto another bookcase and they began exchanging attacks. Kendra launched herself from the top step of the stairs onto a bookcase on the opposite side from Xander. Xander immediately began entering into a furious defense. He ducked under one sword while blocking another behind his back, took small spinning hops over low slashes while parrying another, deflecting both blades simultaneously as he leapt backwards onto another book case.

"Perhaps you should remain grounded for now," called out Giles as he eyed the slowly tottering bookcases.

"But this is fun!" called out Buffy and Xander at the same time. Xander had been pressed to a bookcase near the rear wall. Buffy and Kendra leapt forward one the same bookcase, intending to use their mass to crush Xander against the wall. Xander actually leapt straight up six feet. He curled his feet under himself and planted them against the wall as he swung downward. Both Buffy and Kendra ducked under his slash. Xander, now perpendicular to the wall, leapt forward into a front flip and landed on the book case next to the railing. The bookcase teetered as Xander tried to keep his balance.

"I think-" Giles cut himself off as he rushed away from the railing as Buffy and Kendra joined Xander on top of the bookcase. The entire thing came crashing down.

"Oops," said Xander sheepishly from where he landed on the research table, Buffy and Kendra on the floor next to it. One last book fell from its precarious position on the railing.

"Hang it all!"


	5. Took a level in Badass

**Chapter 5 – Took A Level in Badass**

"So how do we kill the amazing worm-man?" asked Xander to the group at large.

Oz, Willow, Miss Calendar and Giles each shared a look. Giles cleared his throat.

"I'm not sure I understand Xander. You were able to defeat him before."

"But not dispatch him. Thing is, it says here that he can only truly be injured in his disassembled state. When he's separated I can easily crush him with my spiritual pressure. When he's whole I can chop him up but he just puts himself back together again. Plus, I can't use my reiatsu like that without catching the people around me. I'll also be vulnerable immediately after and he already knows not to go pile of worms around me."

"So you can stalemate him," stated Oz, "meantime you can't help us because you're stuck fighting him."

"Exactly," agreed Xander emphatically as he pointed at Oz. "So, any ideas?"

Miss Calendar bit her lip as her gaze shifted from person to person until she ended with Giles. "I might have an idea. Let me look something up first." She pulled her laptop out of her bag.

**(]ooo((=============**

"Your friend is frightening."

Buffy looked up at Kendra at her statement. They were currently sequestered in Giles' office after cleaning up the mess from their spar. Buffy didn't know why Giles had spazzed. They'd picked everything up and nothing had been broken. So what if the books were a little, teeny-weeny disorganized? It's not like he didn't love cataloging and organizing.

In any case, she and Kendra had been sent into the office to ready their weapons away from anyone that might come into the library. They'd gotten to know each other some more and even become a little friendly. Then Xander had come in to pick up a book, stopped and done some really flashy tricks with Kendra's knife, complemented it and left.

Kendra had blushed furiously and hadn't said a word from the moment Xander had walked into the office.

"Do you mean Xander?" Kendra nodded. "He's a goof!" exclaimed Buffy. Kendra stared at Buffy blankly. "It means he's goofy? A funny person? Like a clown?" Kendra frowned.

"He doesn't seem to be very funny." Laughter and a cry of "I never!" from Giles filtered in from the library. Buffy motioned Kendra over as she looked through the circular window set in the door. As they looked they saw Xander gesturing wildly while he had Miss Calendar and Willow in stitches. Oz was smiling while Giles was polishing his glasses in an attempt to hide his own smile.

"See," she told Kendra, "That's Xander. He makes people laugh."

"It seems strange to see him like this compared to earlier."

"Ah," said Buffy with a grimace. "This is actually normal for us. It was very strange for us to see how he was acting earlier."

"So he wasn't scary before?"

Buffy was set to agree when she remembered his words when Willow was kidnapped. Or his reaction after learning Jesse had been turned. "Well," drawled Buffy as she worried her lower lip, "that's not exactly true." _If they hurt Willow, I'll kill you_. "He cares, a lot. His, his best friend was turned."

"What happened?"

"Xander staked him."

"That sounds like something he would do," said Kendra with certainty.

"No!" disagreed Buffy, "You're wrong. He isn't like that at all!" Buffy looked at Xander who was now sitting on the floor and- wait, was he meditating? "At least," she said slowly, "at least he wasn't like this before. Or maybe it was always there, hidden because he never had to use it?"

"He is a strong warrior. Why does that make you sad?"

"I just realized that, even though he's one of my only friends, even though he's saved my life, I really don't know him at all. I don't think _anyone_ really knows him, not even Willow. And _they've_ been friends forever."

"I wouldn't know," said Kendra softly, "I've never had friends." Kendra nearly jumped out of her skin when Buffy grabbed her hand.

"Well you have some now," declared Buffy with a bright smile. Kendra hesitantly returned it. Buffy decided that Kendra wasn't all that bad.

**(]ooo((=============**

That bitch! Buffy couldn't believe Kendra wouldn't come with her to save Angel! Now she was caught by a bunch of vampires and worm guy and Spike was going to finish her off!

The doors to the church burst open as Kendra rushed in after Xander. Xander sliced the vampire nearest to the door in half as he made straight for Norman. Kendra jumped and split kicked the two vampires holding Buffy down.

"You're coming with me!" yelled Xander as he grabbed Norman by his dress shirt and pulled Norman behind him as he ran to the side of the church. He threw Norman out the closest window.

Giles, Oz, Miss Calendar and Willow came in after. Miss Calendar made for the window Xander had just leapt through. Giles and Oz took aim with their crossbows a fair distance from the mob of vampires gathered in the center aisle. Willow stood behind them, carrying the spare bolts and a super soaker full of holy water.

Xander stayed on top of Norman, rushing the assassin as soon as he cleared the window. Each cut he inflicted was healed in moments and each amputated appendage was reattached. Even bisecting him didn't work as Norman started healing before Xander finished his cut. Norman and Xander stood glaring at each other. Norman couldn't get close to Xander in order to take him in hand to hand combat, and he couldn't disassemble to use his strongest attacks. Xander was limited to what he could do with a preternaturally sharp sword until Norman became vulnerable.

"You weren't listed in the brief for the Slayer at all," complained Norman.

"Really? I thought I'd at least rate a mention." Xander shrugged but never let his guard down. "Tough luck for you and psycho cop."

"Actually I think this is where you and I will part ways. You can't finish me off in this form and I won't separate around you."

"You think I'm just going to let you go?"

"I think that you're more concerned with helping your friends inside the church than killing me." Xander couldn't help the way his eyes glanced to the side. He couldn't see the church out of the corner of his eye but he could make out the sounds of a fight. "You hero-types are so predictable." Norman relaxed as he smirked at the visibly frustrated Xander. "I'll be taking my leave now, but I'll be-"

Norman became a pile of worms.

"Squashed!" yelled Xander as he let loose with the full force of his reiatsu. Worms began bursting, one after the other, faster and faster. With one last squelching sound Norman was no more. Xander stopped pushing out his reiatsu. He stumbled back, his body feeling incredibly drained. Xander's head snapped around as someone grabbed hold of him from behind.

"Gah! Don't sneak up on me," said Xander tiredly.

"Sorry," Miss Calendar's smirk didn't help her seem sincere. "It looks like you got him all. I got caught at the edge of your pressure, but I was ready for worse. Felt very unpleasant though, like I'd suddenly gained forty pounds."

"Yeah, that was really hard though," Xander balanced himself as he stood under his own power, "but I'll be good to go in a bit."

"We might not have that much time," said Miss Calendar with worry as she pointed at the group of vampires heading in their direction.

Xander cursed his own weakness. "Go back Miss C. I'll take care of these guys."

"That's a lot of vampires Xander and you don't look too steady at the moment."

"I'll be fine, but I won't be able to cut loose with you here at the same time."

"Xander, don't get yourself killed trying to play the hero," she told him sternly.

Xander took a deep breath and felt his reiatsu suffuse every part of his body.

_It will be enough Alexander, now get her out of here. You are not skilled enough yet to defend her and attack at the same time._

"Go," commanded Xander, "I can take them but I can't defend you at the same time."

"Xander we should both get out-"

"Go, now!" roared Xander. Miss Calendar found herself running back to the church before she realized what she was doing. She didn't stop but glanced over her shoulder as the group of vampires surrounded Xander.

"Good luck, Xander," she whispered as she rushed back to the church, praying that she could get Xander some reinforcements.

_This is it, isn't it?_

_You will __**not**__ fall here, Alexander. This is but the beginning. Now, give these monsters no quarter!_

"Heh, didn't even cross my mind." Xander readied his sword and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Despite the fact that he was holding a sword, the mob of vampires saw him as an easy meal. They formed a semi-circle around him.

"Looks like we get to have an appetizer before the main course!" said the largest of the vampires. The others laughed sycophantically. This guy was obviously the leader of this group. Good, thought Xander, it saved him the trouble of having to identify him in the middle of the fight.

"You think I'll fall to a bunch of mooks?" Xander laughed, "You're already dressed in black, you might as well just put on ninja masks and be done with it!"

Most of the vampires looked at each other in confusion. "Screw you happy meal! You couldn't take one of us much less all of us!" Except for that guy, who was incidentally the youngest fledging, having been raised only a few months before. The other vampires realized that Xander had insulted them and snarled.

"I've got dibs on this guy," said the leader as he stepped forward. He casually stepped up to Xander, fully confident in his ability to see any attack coming. So he was understandably surprised when Xander's sword seemed to vanish from his left and reappear on his right. "Huh?" the vampire looked down and saw his arms hit the floor and vanish into dust, followed by everything under his waist. He looked up, completely disoriented by his sudden transformation into a torso. "What just happened?" The rest of him then burst into dust.

The other vampires stared at the spot where their boss had vanished. None of the vampires could understand what just happened. After all, despite being a shinigami, Xander still registered as a normal human to their senses.

The vampires were consummate predators. When confronted by prey they could do nothing less than attack, so convinced were they of their superiority over humans. They couldn't believe what they had just seen, and so they didn't. In their mind they simply assumed that their leader had made a fatal mistake by not simply attacking the human outright.

Once they had made their own sense of what had just happened, they attacked en masse. There was no finesse at all to their approach. Xander took the opening he created and ran forward through the one gap in their approach. He turned back at the now massed group that was stumbling in their efforts to not crash into each other. Xander charged.

The two vampires closest to him barely had time to scream as Xander cut them three times each, slicing them across the knees, the waist and the neck. They fell apart into seven pieces before they dusted. Xander stepped to the side as three vampires leapt at him through the dust of their compatriots. One vampire had his head cut off as he went past Xander.

With a snarl one of the vampires from the rear rushed Xander as he was recovering from his swing. He barely had enough time to block with the flat of his sword. The blow pushed the sword into him. He'd set his feet enough to keep himself from launching off his feet but the grass gave way first and he slipped, sliding backwards as the vampire continued pressing forward. Xander lifted his feet, letting the forward momentum of the vampire carry him for a moment, and planted his left foot into the vampire's solar plexus. He slid back as the vampire stumbled to a stop, clutching at its broken ribs. Xander sliced its head open. It very quickly dissolved completely, starting from its split head.

_Are you dusting the vampires?_

_They appear to be reacting adversely to your reiatsu. But ponder this another time, the rest are coming!_

Xander stopped his curiosity as he ducked under another leaping vampire. Xander made to slash at the four following behind the one he had ducked under, but they all leapt back, now fully aware and cautious of the blade in his hand. He slashed out at one vampire who jumped back again. Another approached his back but was held off with a thrust. A quick slash to the side caught the jacket of another vampire. Now the five vampires were circling him, dancing in and out of the edge of his range.

_They've noticed your physical condition._

_Yeah, I was already feeling it from forcing my reiatsu out to crush bug man._

_You must strike a decisive blow._

_But how do I- _"Aagh!" Xander cried out in pain as one vampire managed to close and slash the back of his neck. Xander turned and slashed with his sword. The female vampire jumped back. Xander threw himself forward and managed to catch her across the torso opening her up almost to her spine. Just like earlier she slowly dissolved as her wound expanded until her entire body vanished. She screamed the entire time.

The other vampires took advantage of Xander's overextension and one of them punted him in the ribs. He felt them give way as he was knocked aside. He rolled painfully and tried to rise when another vampire kicked him from behind. He slid painfully on his front across the grass. Spitting out some dirt he tried to get up quickly when he was once more hit and sent flying again. He took the kick on his shoulder this time and it numbed his entire sword arm. His fingers twitched uncontrollably and dropped Excalibur. The four vampires were on him in seconds once he was deprived of his weapon. Two held him by his arms as another drilled a fist into his chest.

For a moment his vision blacked out. Xander sagged a bit since he couldn't hold off his fatigue any longer. The last vampire had Excalibur in his hand.

"I say we take this and turn him into finger food."

"Or we can just start with the fingers."

"That too."

"What the hell!?" exclaimed the vampire as Excalibur vanished from his hand.

"Enough!" cried Xander as his reiatsu exploded out of him. The two vampires holding his arms were fledglings. They quickly collapsed to their knees, overwhelmed by Xander's power. The vampire that had struck him reacted like a cornered animal, attacking him with a primal snarl, spittle flying from his lips as his eyes flittered over Xander wildly. Xander was already mid swing when he manifested Excalibur again and neatly bisected the attacking vampire. Two more quick flicks dispatched the vampires at his sides.

"What, what the hell are you?" whispered the last vampire. He was the second oldest of the group and managed to reign himself in instead of attacking or fleeing wildly. He now seriously regretted not taking the second option.

"You dare lay your hands on me?" whispered Xander dangerously, his head bowed and his shoulders tense. "You dare touch my sword?" Xander's head shot up. The last vampire flinched as he met Xander's eyes. Xander's completely black eyes."You are not worthy to even be in my presence and you dare stand against me? Kneel!" The vampire dropped to his knees, staring up at Xander in horror. There was a strange warble to the boy's voice know, as if two voices were trying to speak at the same time. "I am the King! The ruler of everything! You are but a blight upon my subjects! An abomination I will not abide! I sentence you to death!"

"No…" squeaked out the vampire through muscles tensed in fear.

"My power is absolute. My word is law. And you," Xander's sword flashed across the vampires neck, "are less than dust before me."Once the vampire had settled into so much dust Xander pitched forward, landing face first in the dirt.

_What, what just happened?_

_You have exhausted yourself._

_No, I meant- was that an inner hollow?_

_As all people must, you are required to make a choice, Alexander._

_Huh?_

_You must make a choice. Will you be the beloved ruler, the leader for your people, the protector of the realm..._

_Or?_

_Will you be the feared tyrant, the controller of his subjects, the conqueror of the world?_

_I choose the first, of course!_

_Do you really?_

_Wait a second, I thought I already did the whole 'fight against your inner darkness' thing with Zangetsu?_

_You defeated your own powerlessness and self-doubt. Now you must control your power and ambition._

_Well, crap!_

A large crash resounded from the church, Xander forced himself to his feet and limped as quickly as he could back to the church. Looking into the window he saw that the pews inside were on fire and that the massive pipe organ had come crashing down from the second floor balcony.

"Xander!" yelled Willow. She and the rest of the group were leaving from an exit across the hall. "Meet us out front!" Xander nodded and limped to the front parking lot.

As he rounded the corner he saw the others exiting the church. He saw that Buffy was helping Angel walk out. "You couldn't have left him in there?"

"Xander!" scolded both Buffy and Willow. They both froze when they noticed his disheveled appearance and the blood trickling down his chin.

"What happened?" asked Willow as she rushed over to him.

"I got into a little trouble with a pack of vampires."

"That looks to be more than a little trouble, Xander," said Giles as he looked Xander over.

"I'll be fine in the morning. I have some enhanced healing, but I need to be resting for it to work very well."

"Actually, he looks pretty good to me for a guy that just took on ten vampires," remarked Miss Calendar. Xander threw her a sour look as Willow and Buffy exploded.

"Ten vampires!" yelled Buffy.

"What were you thinking!?" yelled Willow. "Where you even thinking!?"

"Impressive," remarked Kendra as she eyed Xander's increasingly stable stance.

"Nice," said Oz, remembering how fast some of those vampires had moved inside the church. They'd had trouble taking on two between him, Giles and Willow.

Both Buffy and Willow turned a sharp glare on Kendra and Oz before turning their attention back to Xander.

"Are you crazy mister?" chastised Willow as she shook a finger in his face.

"Why would you do something so stupid?"

"First off, Wills, I am **not** crazy, despite the voice in my head.

_Every madman believes the voices in his head are real._

_Hush you. _Xander turned from Willow to Buffy. "And second, they were Spike's reinforcements. We would have had to fight them anyway. They were also unarmed and I'm skilled enough to hold off two Slayers, you really think ten entry-level vamps can take me?"

Buffy's mouth closed with a click as she reluctantly shook her head.

"Then why are you so hurt?" asked Willow, no longer angry but still concerned for her friend.

"I made a tactical error. I used my spiritual pressure trick to kill worm guy. Remember how tired I was after I did it in the library? I was even more wiped this time. And the vamps didn't give me a chance to rest. I slipped, they got in some hits, but I came out on top."

"Ten vampires? Two slayers? What's going on?" asked Angel weakly.

"Are you sure we can't leave him?" asked Xander again.

"Enough children, please," asked Giles before Buffy could snap at Xander again. "Let's just go home."

"I'll second that," agreed Xander.


End file.
